Calligraphy

From 14 March to July 2008, the National Museum of Scotland will feature an exhibit of glass sculptures with calligraphic influences by Wang Qin as part of China Now in Scotland, the UK’s largest ever festival of Chinese culture.

Part of a sculpture series that aims to capture the dynamism, energy and creativity of Chinese calligraphy, Wang uses a pen to create the ‘brushstroke’ which is then filled with coloured glass grains and fired.

The calligraphic piece is then sandwiched between two square pieces of colourless glass and fired again. The end result gives the writing a modern and three-dimensional look, as well as showing the profound relationship between Chineses calligraphy and the Buddhist idea of existence.

Educated in Shanghai, Beijing and Jingdezhen, Wang Qin (born 1978) is one of the up-and-coming glass artists who have exhibited widely in China. Inspired by the Zen Buddhism and the spiritual quality of traditional Chinese calligraphy, Wang employs new techiques to cast glass sculptures that crystalise the abstract concept of existence.

Exhibit Details: June and July 2008, National Museum of Scotland, Chambers Street, Edinburgh. visit www.nms.ac.uk/scotland for further information.

Article by Anna Baird