My visit to Sun Yu Li Lao Shi (Chinese for teacher) left me in awe and breathless. Well, I was literally breathless because of the grueling climb up Mount Sophia and steep slopes that seemed to stretch on a hundred miles. (I am exaggerating, blame in on heels, formal attire and a 2kg laptop + camera)
For those who don’t know, Sun Lao Shi is an architect-turned-sculptor. He has been actively involved in the Singapore and regional arts scene for the last 20 years. His numerous awards include China Modern Sculpture Award 1999 in Taiwan, IBM Art Merit Award in 1990 and the winner of the prestigious 1991 Republic of China (ROC) Modern Sculpture Award.
简单中包含了所有复杂. This is how he passionately describes the sculptures around his place. In the last 40 years, he sought to understand the beginning of mankind. To him complexity is a build up from simple dots. Anything complicated, when dissected, are only simple elements. Like humans, we are hard-to-decipher creatures, capable of accomplishing miraculous stuff, yet to look at us through the lens of science, we are merely a composition of DNAs. Sun’s works therefore takes after the DNA double helix structure, representing our simplest, humble beginnings.
The book that sparked his inspiration!
I sipped my pu er as Sun Lao Shi shared his inspiration. Einstein’s Relativity Theory, Stephen Hawkings’ Theory of Everything and a couple of other chim (Hokkien for difficult) philosophers and scientists were mentioned. I’m pretty certain I had my blank look with me as my mind furiously processed the contents, trying to put myself in his shoes to understand and Feel his thoughts. Sigh, I can’t. I’m a hopelessly practical and lateral-thinking person. Anything abstract is like logarithm to me.
Guess you didn't know this was created by Sun!
Sun's work featured prominently by National Museum in 2008
His works paint a zillion pictures, speak a trillion words. It journals his thoughts and ideas consolidated from years of reading and research. This is a mark of successful artists. To quote his wise words, “How large a tree crown is depends on how extensive its roots are” I cannot help but nod in agreement.
Artists add an interesting dimension to society. I never had this thought until today. All my life, I’ve been surrounded by people who are academically driven. My peers, teachers and parents (not to say that they stress me out, they don’t!). Diversity to me is at best mixing with people from different nationalities and religions. Yet there is more to diversity than that. Sun represented legions of artists out there who have unique mindsets and find satisfaction in different aspects. Their works made me stop in my tracks, switch my working left-brain into screensaver mode and appreciate life through a different lens. Up to this point, if you cannot understand a word I say, you ought to take a break and embrace art J
A Lefthander's Writings 