Unity
2017, fiberglass-resin Suzhou, Jiangsu, China |
Zhangjiagang Museum, Zhangjiagang, Jiangsu, China
Public art collection, City of Zhangjiagang In my sculpture I used these two inspirational elements to connect two cultures – Chinese and Canadian. I shaped the hexagram 8 by stacking pebble-like forms to create the hexagram lines. The main inspiration for the sculpture “Unity” comes from one of five Chinese classics – the book named Yijing better known in the western society as the I Ching. This book describes the ancient divination method with 64 hexagrams (6 lines within each hexagram hence the name). Particular hexagram that this sculpture represents is the hexagram number eight – Pi – uniting, holding together. This hexagram is composed of two trigrams where the top one represents water and the bottom represents land, fertile ground, the feminine principle, the passive. Another point of inspiration is the Canadian Inuit pebble or rock sculpture - Inuksuk. These man-made stone structures were created by the Inuit people of Canadian north and Arctic region, and they have been used as landmarks, a navigational points or other points of reference that were essential for survival. Following the symbolism of the Yijing hexagram 8 - this sculpture represents collaboration between life-giving water and fertile land and people. It represents that “no man is an island” and that unity of all produces greater good. It echoes the Taoist concept of unity between the human and a universe. |
