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Inside the Inside
水乳交融


"Inside the Inside " (2023) is a mixed media sculpture I created with 360 degree viewing experience combined visual and olfactory sensitivities. It symbolises biological evolution and the cherished timeless love between partners in life.


The kissing book in the middle is cast in bronze with patination and has the written text selected from Charles Darwin's book "On the Origin of Species" Chapter IV.

"This preservation of favorable variations and the rejection of injurious variations, I call Natural Selection." "It may be said that natural selection is daily and hourly scrutinizing, throughout the world, every variation, even the slightest; rejecting that which is bad, preserving and adding up all that is good; silently and insensibly working, whenever and wherever opportunity offers, at the improvement of each organic being in relation to its organic and inorganic conditions of life."

On the left page bottom left corner, it has four key conditions of natural selection cast: Variation, Heredity, Different, Fitness.

The left page's right corner highlights "Love", hidden on the kissing book's right side bottom corner it wrote, "Do you remember Love".


The fallow deer antler on the top was what I encounter on a farm in Sicily. Traditionally it denotes fertility in nature and fecundity in male and animal.


The coiled octopus tentacles are cast by lost wax process bronze. Octopus is used as slang for cuddles or a virtual hug. Also could be used traditionally as a symbol to represent female.
Here octopus tentacle and antler twine together represent partners interacting with each other.


Joining them together are the supporting twisting fingers. Two index fingers touching each other hidden at the back of the deer teeth, this represents shyness and nervousness in the context of flirting between partners.


Floating on the bottom finger is a cut and polished ammonite fossil. It is a figure of continual change and evolution, also provides a dynamic kind of stability and harmonise feelings.

The nature curves in ammonite fossil also remind me of a Chinese traditional love story of the geomantic compass (luopan), which represents cherished love and loyalty. In the story, luopan is used to define when and where do people born when they rebirth. It is a great luxury for lovers to be able to be born in a similar location within the same time period in order to meet each other.
In the song dynasty (960 to 1279), a poor scholar met a rich girl and they love each other. But the father of the girl doesn't allow them to be together, so orders people to kill the scholar. When the girl knew the scholar died, she was so upset that commit suicide. The king of hell was touched by their love, so allowed them to keep their love memories when reincarnation. Where there was a mistake on the luopan which caused the couple born in the same place but different for 1000 years. In the second reincarnation, the girl tried to follow the footprint of scholar and rebirth in the previous time period that scholar used to live. But the scholar has born in another time again. Time and space differences cause lovers could not meet, they can only miss each with memories.


Supporting the sculpture is a cloud shape mirror. Cloud traditionally in Amerindian and Chinese symbolises fertility. Looking into the mirror, it reflects the bottom view of the sculpture. There is a pair of small ammonite fossil hiding under the bigger ammonite fossil and the deer antler, which bring another depth of the sculpture.
Under the mirror is a revolving stand spin the sculpture in a clock direction, which represents lovers twining together.

In front of the bigger ammonite fossil, there are two real shark teeth which are 60 million years old from Oslo joining together on the bronze finger tip. At the back of two index fingers, there is also a deer teeth floating. Teeth are the most enduring part of the body. They bring the loving memories through time in this sculpture.

At the back of the kissing book there are two baroque pearls on each page. Pearl represents innocence, purity, virginity, perfection and humility. Also it has meaning of the union of fire and water. The pearls look like eyes from the side faces in either left or right page. While combined together, they look like eyes from one combined front view face as well at the back of the kissing book. From a certain angle, the back of the kissing book also looks like a heart represents love.

Above are the contents of the part one sculpture. In front of it is part two of the sculpture combined by below:
A curved tintype photograph made by the 19th century wet plate collodion technique on an aluminum sheet. Inside the photo, there are dear antler and deer teeth from the part one of sculpture. Here is to add another layer to the sculpture, as if it is another window to go inside/ outside.


Couple ceramic core clays have the revert text from the kissing book and are broken on the floor. These are to echo the power of love from the bronze kissing book are so strong that outburst from the clays.

Structure:
Part one media: Lost-wax casting bronze with patination, deer antler, ammonite fossil, shark teeth fossil, baroque pearl and mirror.
Size: 48 (L) * 38 (W) * 90 (H) cm
Part two media: Wet plate collodion tintype photography and ceramic core.
Size: 40 (L) * 30 (W) * 14 (H) cm


《水乳交融》(2023)是我最近創作的混合媒體雕塑,結合了視覺和嗅覺的360度觀看體驗。 它象徵著生物進化和在生命中伴侶之間珍貴的永恆的愛。

中間的親吻書由青銅鑄成,上面的文字選自查爾斯·達爾文的《物種起源》第四章。

“這種保留有利的變異並淘汰有害的變異的過程,我稱之為自然選擇。”
“可以說,自然選擇每天、每時每刻都在審視世界各地的每一種變化,哪怕是最細微的變化;淘汰不好的,保留並積累所有好的;無論何時何地有機會,都在默默地、不知不覺地工作。 改善每個有機體與其有機和無機生命條件的關係。”

書左側頁面的左下角,有自然選擇的四個關鍵條件:變異、遺傳、差異、適應性。

書左側頁面的右角寫著“愛”,接吻書右側下角隱藏著寫著“你還記得愛嗎”。

頂部的公鹿角是我在義大利西西里島的一個農場遇到的。 傳統意義上它表示自然界的生育力以及男性和動物的繁殖力。
捲曲的章魚觸手由失蠟工藝青銅鑄造而成。 章魚被用作俚語,表示擁抱擁抱。 傳統上也可以用作女性的符號。 在這裡,章魚的觸手和鹿角纏繞在一起,代表著伴侶彼此相愛。
將它們連接在一起的是支撐扭轉的手指。 隱藏在鹿牙後面的兩個食指相互接觸,這代表伴侶之間調情時的害羞和緊張。

底部手指上漂浮著一塊經過切割和拋光的菊石化石。 它是一個不斷變化和進化的圖形,也提供了一種動態的穩定和和諧的感情。

菊石化石的自然曲線也讓我想起了中國傳統的風水羅盤愛情故事,它代表著珍愛和忠誠。 故事中,“羅盤”用來定義人輪迴重生時出生的時間、地點。 對於戀人來說,在同一時間出生在相似的地點,從而能夠相遇,是一件非常奢侈並且珍貴的事情。
這個愛情故事發生在宋朝(960年至1279年),一個窮書生遇到了一個富家女,他們彼此相愛。 但女孩的父親不允許他們在一起,於是命人殺了書生。 當女孩知道書生死後,傷心欲絕殉情自殺了。 閻王被他們的愛情感動,於是允許他們在轉世時保留愛情記憶。 哪知羅盤上的有一個錯誤,導致這對戀人出生在同一地方,時間卻相差了1000年。 第二次轉世,少女試圖追隨書生的足跡,重生到書生曾經生活過的上一個時期。 但這位學者又在另一個時代誕生了。 時空的差異,讓戀人無法相遇,深深懷念彼此。

支撐雕塑的是一面雲形鏡子。 傳統上,雲在美洲印第安人和中國人中像徵著生育力。 往鏡子裡看,映出了雕塑的仰視圖。 較大的菊石化石和鹿角下面隱藏著一對小菊石化石,給雕塑帶來了另一種深度。

鏡子下方有一個旋轉台,使雕塑按時鐘方向旋轉,代表戀人纏繞在一起。

在更大的菊石化石前面,有兩顆來自奧斯陸真正的鯊魚牙齒,它們有六千萬年的歷史,在青銅指尖上連在一起。 兩根食指的背後,還浮現著一顆鹿牙。 牙齒是身體最持久的部分。 他們在這座雕塑中帶來了穿越時空的愛的回憶。

接吻書的背面每頁都有兩顆巴洛克異形珍珠。 珍珠代表純真、純潔、童貞、完美和謙遜。 也有水火結合之意。 從左頁或右頁的側臉看,珍珠看起來像眼睛。 當組合在一起時,它們看起來就像一張正臉的眼睛。 從某個角度看,接吻書的背面也像一顆代表愛情的心。
以上是第一部分雕塑的內容。 它前面是雕塑的第二部分,如下所示:

一張 19 世紀濕版火棉膠技術在鋁片上製作的弧形錫版照片。 照片裡有雕塑第一部分的可愛的鹿角和鹿牙。 這裡是給雕塑添加新的觀看維度,就好像它是另一個可以在時間和空間隨意進出的窗口。

另外在地面上有一對破碎的陶瓷核心的混凝土,表面寫有接吻書上的反向文字。 這是為了襯托了青銅接吻書裡的愛的力量如此強烈並從粘土中爆發而出。

雕塑結構:

第一部分材質:失蠟鑄造古銅色青銅、鹿角、菊石化石、鯊魚牙齒化石、巴洛克珍珠和鏡子。 尺寸:48(長)*38(寬)*90(高)厘米

第二部分材質:濕版火棉膠錫版和陶瓷芯。 尺寸:40(長)*30(寬)*14(高)厘米