Among the life on earth, only grass and woods perish and become revitalized year after year. Their life is reflected in the longevity of pine trees, and the blossoming and fragrance of bewitching flowers. Although our habitat is dominated by trees and grass, we form a closer ties with wood. From antiquity, objects made of wood have been with us in a many a culture. Easy to obtain and carve as a material, wood has a soothing nature, partly because of its cultural implication as one of the five elements. Standing proud and talk, woods are made by nature and woven from layers upon layer of growth rings. With tactile vigor and softness, wood is beneficial to mankind,
linking earth and heaven. Its significance is more powerful than its uses. The application of wood has been passed on for generations beyond count and, if the cruelty in logging can be discounted, the technique in woodapplication is truly magical.
In the modern age, landscapes change fast, reflecting on the nature of human beings rather than their ethos. The drive for efficiency has dampened the thinking process, and the ready availability of technology has dwarfed the ancient skills. Materialism driven, people are after economic interests and vanity, and many things that have been made were done so on the spur of the moment. As a result, the application of wood is often tedious and overlapping, likening wood to junky material, similar to metal and stone. Culture therefore becomes like the corpse of a tree. Who has the vigor and energy to uphold the truth?
By 20 artists, the fantastic works on display at this exhibition are all based on wood. Their different artistic concepts have resulted in a myriad of works: dainty, witty, glaring in color or striking in workmanship. Even works by the same artist vary in conception, and different in technique from ancient practices. The concepts are exquisite without distorting contemporary spirituality, indicative of the materialism that characterizes the world we inhabit. What the works embody cannot change the world we live in, and yet what the artists are trying to depict reflect their unfaltering belief.