It has been a very long time since men created objects out of the branches of trees (wood). When mankind took a radical departure from the path of animals and learned to use tools, the history of wood being divested of its natural properties and turned into a material ensued. As the human minds awakened, their aesthetic needs gradually evolved into an important part of life. The expression of the longing for beauty propelled mankind to realize their aesthetic needs by developing natural objects. As a primitive, rich and handy source of material, wood naturally becomes a carrier of human aesthetics. Wood carving is the most important form of this vehicle.
With wood as its main raw material, wood carving has several thousand years in history. Classical wood carvings are found from Egypt to China, both with a very old history. Examples include “The Village Chief” in ancient Egypt, a number of ancient wood carved servants in China, including those unearthed at the Mozuizi Han tomb at Weiwu, Gansu Province, which have significant influence in the history of wood carving art. The process of gradually changing the original form of the wood to an envisaged art form, with knife, axe, saw and chisel as tools, has never ceased. In medieval Europe, religion themed wood carvings were rich and colorful, while wooden Buddhist statues of the Song and Ming dynasties of China were dazzling in glamor. Until today, in modern society, which is so different in its formation than all previous societies, wood carving continues to thrive. Outstanding examples include (works by) Italian sculptors Bruno Walpath and Gehard Dementz, American sculptor Dah Webb, Japanese sculptor Katsura Funakoshi and Taiwanese sculptor Zhu Ming.
The process of making wood carvings is one of human interacting with wood, the result of which is an artistic product. The interaction cannot be separated from the larger social context. In addition to the limitation of men’s understanding, the perspective of the understanding, the degree to which they wield their rights and the attitudes to the material and the development of their tools, social functioning demand and utilitarian values of art also affect its visual representation. Past wood carving often were endowed with social functions and hindered in its aesthetic values by the ruling class. However, the functional demand and the intervention by the ruling class often compel the visual representation to develop a single aesthetic style and imagery. With societal development and a growing individual need for independence, art has been depraved of all its other functions and become a relatively independent social scene. Ideological advancement has enabled art forms to diversify. The freedom in private expressions has given rise to the diversity in art language. In a highly developed information age, as an old art form, wood carving is facing huge challenges. It is worth brooding over how our generation of artists may inject fresh blood into the art from and continue its sustainable development, which is also our mission as wood sculptors.
In the dialogue between men and wood, the human sentiments and aesthetic awareness are poured into the wood as the axe and knife are busy at work. Each cut, no matter where and how it is made, is done with precision. Only by doing so can confidence be manifested, can the objects under the knife be guided by the artists’ awareness, and their own life be translated into the various forms of wood. At the same time, the natural features, the beauty of the textures, the patterns of the wood and the aesthetic imagery thus derived also exert influence on the artists. It is a matter of choice for the artists how to conduct the dialogue. Different attitudes and concepts result in different art products, be the process of production a forceful intervention of self-expression, a smooth passage in the use and application of the available material, a tradeoff between the two or achieved through metaphors.
It is against the backdrop of contemporary art development that eight artists from different backgrounds continue the tradition of conducting dialogues with wood, cutting out their understanding of contemporary wood carving and of art. Their names are (in their family name’s alphabetic order): Huang Zhitao, Liu Kai, Ma Wenjia, Qu Feng, Ren Junhua, Wang Guoqiang, Yuan Jia and Zhang kexin. They explore new ways of exploring wood carving through the use of this environmentally friendly material, the importance of which is ever growing.
The path of art resembles the growth of trees and is dependent upon the passage of time. The longer the growth rings, the more accomplished the artist is. The explorations by these eight artists in wood carving are now presented in this group show. We hope the exhibition will trigger further thinking about the development of woodcarving.
- Qu Feng
*image (left)
© Ma Wenjia
courtesy of the artist and Art Seasons