| Interview with sculptor, Sharon Chu | ||
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philophonema: Your copper sculpture, "Jumping Water", expresses an aesthetic that is at once serene and harmonious, yet extremely vital, all qualities consistent perhaps with the Venusian principle with which copper is traditionally associated. Describe the aesthetic you wanted to embody in this piece and how the design formed in your mind. Sharon Chu: There are two sides to that. First, being Chinese, I have been exposed to the old buildings and houses with windows made in wood, shaped oval, round or square, with nicely designed patterns as decoration which allowed people to glue paper over it to shield against heat or chill. So, I wanted to build, make something in that direction, both in practical and also decorative aspects. Secondly, the design is almost like the universe because there are the symbols of five elements involved. You don't really see all of them, but, where a plant grows, there must be earth, life. There is water, metal -- the copper itself -- and the round shape is like the cycle of life. The base is like the Earth Mother. Leaves and branches soften the form. philo: Copper is a soft metal. Does that property make it especially conducive to your work as a whole? Chu:
Actually, copper was the first metal I worked with. I like the nature of
copper, which has a soft and warm feel to it in comparison to steel. I
like that it’s easy to work with and it takes shape and develops and
ages differently one piece from the other. When I design a piece of new
work, I don't need to worry about how to make it look warm or try to
soften the lines like with steel. philo: You’ve said that the older the copper is, the deeper or better its patina. How do you recognize the age of a copper specimen and how do copper deposits in Arizona compare with others elsewhere in the world in terms of age? Chu: The aged look comes from the oxidization of the metal. With copper there are elements which can influence this process, such as the acid or alkaline content (salt, chlorine and so on) in the surrounding environment, the air or water. If the air has a high acid content, the piece patinas faster (with blue deposit). In some of the pieces I showed in New York the copper was not very old, but some parts were starting to form the patina look because the local tap water has a high chlorine and mineral content. An aged copper piece has a darker color, a deep red, sometimes red-purplish color with deposits of blue or green patina in some areas on the piece. You can actually apply chemicals to the surface of the copper to accelerate the patina process, but the disadvantage in my opinion is that the patina then looks very uniform. philo: How does the topography of your home region in Taiwan compare to the American Southwest? Chu: I
grew up in the mountains in a small village near Puli. There was only
one road leading out of the mountains to Puli -- the whole big world to
me as a little girl -- and we had to cross this very, very long, narrow
wooden bridge to get to it. My toys were a tricycle, the woods and the
little stream below the bridge . On clear days, I would be gone the
whole day playing in the little stream, swimming, catching little fish,
building sand animals, or I’d venture into the woods to eat wild
berries, climb trees, have lunch with the mountain people, then come
home at sunset for dinner with my family. On rainy days, Mom and I would
stay tucked in bed watching the drops run down the window until Dad came
home for lunch. I never tired of it. Or we’d walk in the rain under
her big, black umbrella, and I’d watch the rain run down from its
edges, feeling protected. philo: You first learned the craft of welding in Arizona. Did you study and practice art in Taiwan in a different medium entirely, say, painting, before discovering your affinity with copper? Chu: No, though my
eldest sister is a painter. (We are a family of all daughters, six in
fact.) No, I decided early on that I could not become a painter because
I felt my drawing skills were not good enough. I studied business
administration in college in Taiwan, then went to Lucerne and studied
hotel management and languages, German and French. I lived in
Switzerland for seven years. All that time, I kept my passion for art
and longed to produce art. philo: You leave this week to go back to Taiwan for a few months. What are you looking forward to accomplishing there in terms of your work? Chu: The larger fountain pieces involve a different structure design and water flow system which I’d like to try and work on. Also, I’d like to work with copper in different forms and gauges for designs other than fountains. philo: Best of luck with it. We’ll look forward to the new designs. Chu: Thank you.
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