Hyper-Intricate Steel Sculptures Feature Calligraphy Flowing Like Water

Look close: in the works of Zheng Lu, Chinese calligraphy threads stainless steel into explosive, static forms. Recently on display at Sundaram Tagore New York, Lu's sculptural pieces anchored the show, The Bright Eye of the Universe: Six Chinese Artists Unite Heaven and Earth. They hold fast like flash-frozen water, at once evoking fluids both cosmic and natural. Explains Sundaram Tagore, "The gravity-defying sculptural works by Mongolian artist Zheng Lu appear to be wholly Modern in their stainless-steel fabrication and ambitious technical execution, but a closer look reveals thousands of Chinese characters inscribed onto the surface of the metal—a nod to antiquity inspired by the artist’s longtime study of traditional Chinese calligraphy."

According to Colossal, Lu laser-cuts his characters and applies them to a plaster base. The results, whether suspended from ceilings or situated on stands, are every bit as dynamic as they are still, and the resulting tension is sublime:

The Bright Eye of the Universe: Six Chinese Artists Unite Heaven and Earth was on display at Sundaram Tagore New York from September 10 to October 10, 2015. Click here to learn more about the gallery.

Via Colossal

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