Ju Ming (Zhu Ming)

Singapore, Singapore Botanic Gardens, Ju Ming Taichi Series, Monumental Outdoor Exhibition at Singapore Botanic Gardens, 2015, illustrated in colour in the catalogue

Ju Ming (exhibition catalogue), Singapore Art Museum, Singapore, 2004-2005, illustration of another cast
Ju Ming Taichi Sculpture (exhibition catalogue), Ju Ming Museum, Taiwan, 2006, illustration of another cast

The idea for Ju Ming's Taichi series originated from the artist's own practice of the ancient form of Chinese martial arts - which he took up in the 1970s on the advice of his artistic mentor Yang Yu Yu who believed it would develop the artist's physical and mental discipline. Though traditionally developed as a method of self-defence, Tai Chi is now widely celebrated for its health benefits and practiced as a form of mind and body maintenance, with its studied focus on physical movement often inspiring a state of mental calm and clarity.

Ming's Taichi series comprises bronze renderings of different Tai Chi movements, with the human subjects pared down to minimalistic abstract forms. The sculptures' essential simplicity reflects the ideals of the martial art in its specific promotion of balance, clarity and discipline. The Taichi editions marked the beginning of Ming's practice of abstract art, and remain one of his most acclaimed and world-renowned series.

One of the defining themes of twentieth-century Asian contemporary sculpture is the fusion of traditional culture with modern society – and artists' interpretations of how they interconnect. Ming's Taichi series not only use as their subject an age-old form of Chinese martial art, but also in their elegant forms evoke calligraphic symbols. However, in their favouring of volume and form over detail and representation, they also achieve a beautiful and highly modern aesthetic.