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‘Zhongying’s Icons’
The Opposite House is proud to present ‘Zhongying’s Icons’, two groups of Buddha sculptures made from stainless steel mesh by Shi Zhongying. These remarkable works can be viewed at the hotel’s Atrium from now until end of March 2015.
Shi has discovered his interest toward Buddhism through deep discussions with friends and mentors, as a result he started to learn more about the religion and its philosophical thoughts. The wisdom behind Buddhism has greatly impacted Shi’s outlook on life and values, and inspired his art pieces.
The first group of ‘Zhongying’s Icons’ commenced with Self series which comprises of three works namely Self, Self - Pilgrimage and Self - Reincarnation. The sculptures portray genuflecting and extended postures of the Tibetan Buddhist pilgrim to reflect their humbleness, casting aside arrogance and completely abandoning the sense of Self.
Finely crafted using stainless steel combined with elements of bronze, gold foil, copper and resin, the Self series does not simply refer to a person’s tangible body, it has a broader meaning referring to the overall existence and unchanging individuality.
Shi then introduced us to the second group of ‘Zhongying’s Icons’ called Buddha which is further divided into 2 series namely Buddha and Buddha Icon Series. The sculptures portray Shi’s understanding of Buddhism and at the same time remove the notion of idolatry and superstition that Buddhist images may evoke in the minds of people. Buddha is a free-standing sculpture that is more than 2 metres in height and provides a sense of serenity. Buddha Icon Series depicts seated Buddhas and are of the past, present and future. The lights surrounding this series depicts metamorphosis, from figurative image to abstraction, from entity to void, and finally from form to meaning. The expressed imagery of this entire process is also a course in which the iconic existence of the Buddha is deconstructed.
“To be a fine sculptor I believe one should have his own core values as well as an abundant insight. The first two or three years of pursuing sculpting made me discover that my works contain considerable amount of Zen Buddhist elements thus when creating ‘Zhongying’s Icons’ I decided to understand the wisdom behind the religion,” says artist Shi Zhongying.
