By Soyim
Soyim
Qian Fangshi
Originally named Bing Weijie, Qian Fang Shi is a young sculptor who aims to reveal the unadorned beauty of objects and the lifestyle of ancient people based on the medium of jade, turquoise in most cases, coupled with his ingenious skills and his original aspiration that has been nurtured by traditional Chinese culture. His artworks show an integration of intricate craftsmanship with simple, unrestrained temperaments characteristic of people living in the north of China.
An Enlightening Conversation Picture 2Soyim
An Enlightening Conversation, a piece of miniature turquoise sculpture with a red sandalwood base.
An Enlightening Conversation Picture 3Soyim
It visually interprets the Chinese idiom that “by having this enlightening conversation with you, I’ve learnt more than what I might have got from reading for ten years”.
An Enlightening Conversation Picture 4Soyim
The characters in it are of similar size to black sesame.
Stillness - I of “Sarira in the Secular World” Series Picture 2Soyim
In the eyes of the artisan, everything in the world, with or without life, is on an endless journey of improving itself by making and correcting mistakes, and when things elapse, they leave relics, just like the sarira of the Buddha. This is why the artisan decided to craft this keep-going “Sarira in the Secular World” Series. To him, the creation process itself is also part of the endless journey.
Serving as an introduction to this series, this piece named “Stillness” was based on a bent screw the artisan found while jogging. The artisan believes that this screw, having been discarded like garbage, is its relics, left after completing its own journey. The artisan then duplicated the screw with turquoise in the same size.
Wisdom of “Sarira in the Secular World” Series Picture 2Soyim
Wisdom of “Sarira in the Secular World” Series. This piece is made of turquoise and red sandalwood.
This piece has an interesting name: Bada Shanren (Zhu Da) Had a Fish. On this miniature sculpture made of the gobi variety of Hetian jade, the artisan illustrated the well-known Ming dynasty painter Bada Shanren, or Zhu Da (ca. 1626-1705 AD), who the artisan believes had a fish, living or dead, in his mind.
Bada Shanren (Zhu Da) Had a Fish Picture 3Soyim
Bada Shanren (Zhu Da) Had a Fish Picture of materialsSoyim
The raw material of the artwork.
Looking for Plum Blossoms Picture 1Soyim
Looking for Plum Blossoms Picture 3Soyim
Looking for Plum Blossoms. Made of the peddle variety of Hetian jade, this piece creates a scene of “a traveler in mountains looking for plum blossoms following the fragrance”.
Mountain & Brook Traveler Picture 2Soyim
Mountain & Brook Traveler. The artisan crafted this exquisite miniature turquoise sculpture to reproduce the picturesque scene of “a spring gurgles out of the mountain foot, while the traveler disappears in the clouds”.
Mountain & Brook Traveler Picture 3Soyim
The pine trees.
Mountain & Brook Traveler Picture 4Soyim
The old man is of the size similar to that of black sesame.
Nengemishō by Qian FangshiSoyim
Nengemishō. Made of turquoise, this sculpture aims to reproduce the atmosphere of the Buddha’s flower sermon “Nengemishō”.
