TALES OF THE SPRING
Jan 2025 — Feb 2025
As the Year of the Snake approaches, I was invited by Taikoo Li Chengdu to perform an oriental mythological drama at Temple Plaza by drawing inspiration from fusang trees and auspicious animals in the SHAN HAI JING and integrating Sichuan's shadow play, a national intangible cultural heritage.
In Chinese mythology, the Fusang is a giant tree located at the easternmost point of the world, connecting heaven and earth. The sacred tree of Sanxingdui in Chengdu is this legendary Fusang tree, from which the Sun God bird also originated. "Classic of Mountains and Seas (Shan Hai Jing)"records that nine three-legged golden crows inhabited the Fusang tree.Every spring, the fusang flowers bloom and auspicious animals play under the holy trees to celebrate the new year.
Inspired by this myth, combined with the non-legacy shadow art of Shu, we have incorporated modern aesthetics and craftsmanship, using acrylic to imitate the hazy texture of cowhide shadow. Fuchsia flowers are inlaid in the leaves.
The leaves are mainly in red & orange, as if the sky is dotted with sunset, green & green embellishments add vitality, and the golden tree trunk is like a pillar of light running through the sky and the earth, mirroring the golden crows, illuminating the work and giving it the vitality of the flow of light and shadow. Nine three-legged Golden Crow lanterns are interspersed in the mulberry leaves of the shadow, with four divine birds in the centre spreading their wings like flowers, and the Golden Crow chasing and playing around them, interpreting the harmony of the symbiosis of all living things in the mingling of light and life.
The personal work ‘Without Reproductive Isolation’, which inspired this project, is set in the form of a Chinese screen.
I have also designed six auspicious animals - Elephant, Deer, Crane, Snake, Rabbit and Armour - around the Fusang Tree to bring the public good wishes for the Chinese New Year of 2025 with their different auspicious meanings.
Scenes from Rabbit, Toad Man, Deer.
Scenes with an elephant, tiger man, and turtle.
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