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Lot Essay
Ju Ming is acclaimed for his use of modern, abstract forms to express traditional Eastern concepts whilst commanding international appeal, thus epitomizing the growth and distinctiveness of Chinese sculpture. Ju Ming's sculptures are richly rooted in his personal history and result in beautiful three-dimensional forms of his memory and even the traditions of Chinese art forms. The works in Taichi Series are intrinsically linked to the artist's physical and mental practice of Taichi, an exercise where movements and the spirit is captured in Ju's profound wood and bronze sculptures. Ju Ming grew up in a rural village in Taiwan tending to livestock and later worked as an apprentice at a monastery for several years, before beginning his career by carving meticulous and regimented sculptures of religious subjects. In the 1970s, when Ju began practicing Taichi, hissculptures began to transform into wondrous figures that embodied the spirit and movement attributed to the practice of Taichi itself. With Taichi Series, Ju Ming breaks free from tradition and focuses more on medium, expression, and shape rather than realism.
Ju Ming crafted Taichi Series: Turn Stomp & Taichi Series: Cloud Hands (Lot 42) in bronze in the late 1990s. The artist explored the force generated between the weight of metals and their movements through solid and massive bronze. As his bronze casting techniques advanced, Ju Ming's ability to present wooden texture in his sculptures was close to perfection. The rough slices through the bronze echo the spiritual rhythm and momentum of the Taichi practice. Inspired by architecture as well as Western sculptor Eduardo Chillida, Ju simplified the images' details using his bold and dynamic cuts, disposing of formal details, and thereby creating an even livelier and freer form of expression.
Taichi Series: Cloud Hands is the 10th in the 24-posture Taichi. Its alternative name "mother posture" suggests not only its unique significance in the Taichi system, but also its ideal, classical blend of attack and defense, hard and soft of boxing. Taichi Series: Cloud Hands combine abstract and simple, with its massiveness and bold slices, and a clean yet strong outline to express the eruption of immense power in motion. The sharp and steep lines resembling those of a cliff present strength and stability at the legs. Together with the posture of attack at the upper body, the piece exemplifies a totality in attack and defense.
Taichi Series - Turn Stomp is structured by the concepts of "speed" and "intuition". The sculpting process shows continuous motion and creative intuition. Standing upright on one leg, the weight of the figure is transferred to the right foot. As the figure attempts a sideward turn, kicking backward with the left foot, Ju depicts the heaviness of the left foot by showing the bending leg against the steady poise of the pelvis. The left foot kicks sharply out, highlighting the speed and agility of the kick. The subject's center of gravity shifts onto the right foot as the figure turns, palms flattened and straight, while Ju captures the potential attack pose in the upraised left foot. In the relative positions of the figure's limbs he clearly reveals the way hand, eyes, body, and technique are all united by the concept of "embracing the spirit and body as one," and the Taichi practice of countering speed with slowness and movement with stillness.
In his simplified geometrical treatment, Ju Ming retains just a few broad, incisive lines, through which he suggests all the details of the body and its movements; within the stability of the sculptural form he nevertheless emphatically conveys the suddenness of the figure' s movements.
The vastness of the two pieces offers visual stimulation to viewers, thereby inducing a dramatic upsurge of power. The pieces show commanding motion and momentum with simple lines, visualizing the philosophical deliberation process Ju has engaged in. Cloud Hands and Turn Stomp embed activities in the fluid and smooth lines, which in turn not only bring interactions among the bold slices, but also a unique viewing experience to viewers at every single angle they appreciate the pieces from. Rich in temperaments, layers, mass and motion, these works are clear evidence of the maturity and foundation in Ju's sculptural language - he successfully freezes the continuous motion and momentum of a figure into a single vivid moment.
Ju Ming crafted Taichi Series: Turn Stomp & Taichi Series: Cloud Hands (Lot 42) in bronze in the late 1990s. The artist explored the force generated between the weight of metals and their movements through solid and massive bronze. As his bronze casting techniques advanced, Ju Ming's ability to present wooden texture in his sculptures was close to perfection. The rough slices through the bronze echo the spiritual rhythm and momentum of the Taichi practice. Inspired by architecture as well as Western sculptor Eduardo Chillida, Ju simplified the images' details using his bold and dynamic cuts, disposing of formal details, and thereby creating an even livelier and freer form of expression.
Taichi Series: Cloud Hands is the 10th in the 24-posture Taichi. Its alternative name "mother posture" suggests not only its unique significance in the Taichi system, but also its ideal, classical blend of attack and defense, hard and soft of boxing. Taichi Series: Cloud Hands combine abstract and simple, with its massiveness and bold slices, and a clean yet strong outline to express the eruption of immense power in motion. The sharp and steep lines resembling those of a cliff present strength and stability at the legs. Together with the posture of attack at the upper body, the piece exemplifies a totality in attack and defense.
Taichi Series - Turn Stomp is structured by the concepts of "speed" and "intuition". The sculpting process shows continuous motion and creative intuition. Standing upright on one leg, the weight of the figure is transferred to the right foot. As the figure attempts a sideward turn, kicking backward with the left foot, Ju depicts the heaviness of the left foot by showing the bending leg against the steady poise of the pelvis. The left foot kicks sharply out, highlighting the speed and agility of the kick. The subject's center of gravity shifts onto the right foot as the figure turns, palms flattened and straight, while Ju captures the potential attack pose in the upraised left foot. In the relative positions of the figure's limbs he clearly reveals the way hand, eyes, body, and technique are all united by the concept of "embracing the spirit and body as one," and the Taichi practice of countering speed with slowness and movement with stillness.
In his simplified geometrical treatment, Ju Ming retains just a few broad, incisive lines, through which he suggests all the details of the body and its movements; within the stability of the sculptural form he nevertheless emphatically conveys the suddenness of the figure' s movements.
The vastness of the two pieces offers visual stimulation to viewers, thereby inducing a dramatic upsurge of power. The pieces show commanding motion and momentum with simple lines, visualizing the philosophical deliberation process Ju has engaged in. Cloud Hands and Turn Stomp embed activities in the fluid and smooth lines, which in turn not only bring interactions among the bold slices, but also a unique viewing experience to viewers at every single angle they appreciate the pieces from. Rich in temperaments, layers, mass and motion, these works are clear evidence of the maturity and foundation in Ju's sculptural language - he successfully freezes the continuous motion and momentum of a figure into a single vivid moment.