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Click to see Yang's works'

Classic glass

Taiwanese artist revives centuries-old glass sculpting

June 28, 2000
Web posted at: 2:53 p.m. EDT (1853 GMT)

HONG KONG -- When Taiwanese film star Yang Hui Shan stopped acting at the height of her career about 13 years ago, few believed her decision to become a glass sculptor would last.

She's proven her skeptics wrong, as her latest exhibition here shows.

Taking inspiration from China's cultural and philosophical past, Yang brings elements of poetry, proverbs and Buddhism to her work. That's not been a simple task.

"Ever since I started to master the skill of making the traditional Buddha figure to the further creation of it, I always hoped to transmit the Buddhist philosophy through my works," she said. "But it's not easy to communicate some of the religious philosophies through glass art."

In bringing them to life, Yang chose one of the most difficult art forms: the pate-de-verre (glass paste) process of making glass sculptures. The method involves 12 steps, from the creation of clay or wooden molds to the pouring of molten crystal at 1,832 degrees Fahrenheit (1,000 degrees Celsius).

Yan Hui Shang
Taiwan film star Yang Hui Shan gave up acting to create art glass  

She did not know it, but Yang was using a technique other Asian artists had perfected centuries earlier. Despite its French name, the sculpting method actually originated 2,000 years ago during China's Han Dynsasy, but faded when artists failed to pass along their skills to succeeding generations.

Yang wants to make sure this element of China's past does not get lost again.

"Though we are the first Chinese people to rediscover glass art, we hope that when our works are exhibited in another part of the world, visitors can have a feel of China's cultural flavor and style without taking note of the origin of such works or who the creator is," she said.

Now, having established herself as a top-class sculptor, Yang hopes to set up a school for Chinese glass art in the Great China region -- one generation making sure the next learns from its elders.

CNN's Kurt Achin and Reuters contributed to this report.



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