Wood sculpture
37 × 25 × 22 cm. 14 5/8 × 9 7/8 × 8 5/8 in.
Signed in Chinese and dated on the bottom
PROVENANCE
Jun Youn Sculpture Gallery, Taipei
Important Private Collection, Asia
This work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity signed by the artist and issued by Jun Youn Sculpture Gallery, Taipei
The Supreme Combination of Man and Nature
The Endless Connotation of Ju Ming's Taichi Woodcarving
“Taichi is a method, invented by the ancient Chinese, of maintaining your health through regular soft exercise. It is also the best example of ‘achieving oneness between man and nature' that I am aware of. Through our own body, Taichi allows us to directly experience and emulate the natural phenomena that make up our universe.”
——Ju Ming
In 1977, Ju held his first overseas solo exhibition at Tokyo Central Art Museum. In the exhibition, 28 woodcarving Taichi works brought high praise to him. Since then, Ju has gradually established his own expression vocabulary and spiritual connotation. In the Taichi series, woodcarving is the first medium explored, which is also the best example of the aesthetic concept he pursued, “the combination of man and nature”.
From the very beginning with wood, Ju implements the core idea of highly unifying the carving form and the spirit of Taichi. Through careful observation of the wood grain, he decides the move and image of the Taichi theme and conforms to the natural texture. In the drastic cut, he extracts the vitality hidden in it. The value of Ju's woodcarving works is ensured by their uniqueness, attracting domestic and overseas collectors. The wooden sculptures presented in this auction Taichi Series – Shuttling Maiden (Lot 76) and Taichi Series – Pushing Hands (Lot 77) are the classic representatives of them.
The Power in Gentle, the Aesthetics in Embracing
In the mid-1970s, Ju became a student of the master sculptor Yuyu, who suggested Ju to practice Taichi. He then introduced the twenty-four moves of Taichi into his creation, and showed the characteristics of each move. Taichi Series – Shuttling Maiden completed in 1988 fully demonstrates Ju's understanding of the move's momentum and the philosophy hidden inside. One hand is raised on the forehead, lightly lying on the arm. The other hand pushes forward from the trend, forming a real power output. Two hands form a flexible posture of one defends-one offends, one virtual-one real, like the shuttle of the weaving girl's lead, which is a great illustration of the hard-soft harmony of Taichi philosophy. Looking at the protagonist's lower body, the steady legs are like tree stumps firmly rooted in the earth. They are carved with longitudinal lines to form a steady and tough state. As the wood grain stretches obliquely left and right, the martial artist's hands are like branches growing upwards, forming an endless momentum. The back is horizontal and multi-faceted, like the key node connecting the power of every direction. Ju's exquisite technique, “image conforms to the shape”, not only condenses the appearance characteristics of Taichi moves, but also presents the texture of the wood that is more essential. He combines the body and mind with the natural things, and returning to the spiritual pursuit of Taichi, “acquire the charm of heaven and earth, absorb the spirit of natural wonder.”
Coherent Attack: the Strengths Originating from the Momentum
Through the momentum of the sculpture knife, Ju often injects the speed and strength experience of Taichi practicing into the sculpture shaping. With the traction of the sculpture lines, he conveys the vivid imagery expression of Chinese aesthetics. Taichi Series – Pushing Hands is a wonderful representative.
In this work, Ju integrates the actions of stepping, turning, and pushing hands into one, so that the protagonist is in a coherent dynamic of accumulating momentum and making a forward attack. The character stands steadily in a “bow” posture, and the waist is turned to the right, driving the forward force of the right hand, raising the left hand, blocking the right, and pushing with the left. He lifts the upper body and stables the lower part, stretching forward and squatting backward, ingeniously creating an incomparable dynamic in the balance. Ju creates a strong sense of geometric unevenness through the superposition of yin and yang of large faces, forming rhythm and cohesion in multiple spaces, so that the viewers can experience the rich vision presented by the work from different angles as they move around and the endless spiritual power.
The trend of carving corresponds to the grainy texture of the wood appropriately, exploiting the character of the specially selected material. The golden-brown filamentary texture creates a silent flow of breath in the alternation of light and dark, with the turn of the body such as the front knee and left hip retaining the round texture of the log. The echo of the texture of the wood and the martial artists' postures presents a high degree of harmony between man and nature.
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