There are many ways to celebrate the creative power of paper from the art of scrapbooks to origami. Yet this delicate and fragile material can also have a sculpturally three-dimensional quality about it, at least it does so in Li Hongbo's world.
Fascinated by the Chinese flat paper decorations known as paper gourds that can be opened up to reveal a hidden and more fantastic world of colours and volumes, the Beijing artist started experimenting in 2008 with honeycomb-like structures.
One experiment led to the next and soon he began exploring the themes of shape and mutability in white marble-like sculptures that can be transformed, twisted, elongated and therefore radically altered.
The final effect is stunning and it truly enchanted the visitors at the Klein Sun Gallery in New York, where Li Hongbo showcased his work between January and March in his first solo exhibition in the United States, entitled "Tools of Study".
The latter featured a series of sculptures, from historical figures to replicas of classic artworks, but also geometric solids and parts of the human body.
Inspired by the plaster models he made while studying at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing, the sculptures looked as if they were made in white marble or porcelain, but, when touched, they revealed their flexible layered paper core, allowing visitors to explore in a playful way issues such as transformation, mutability and false perceptions of reality.
When did you start creating your sculptures?
Li Hongbo: I began experimenting with paper as a material for sculpture in 2008.
What prompted you to use paper for your pieces?
Li Hongbo: There is a Chinese saying - "life is as fragile as paper" - which has left a deep impact on me. Due to my past jobs, I have become very familiar with paper. This revealed to me the importance of paper to both society and individuals. It also allowed me to explore the hidden, broad expanse of uses of paper.
You were in the book business - what kind of books did you use to publish?
Li Hongbo: I edited books such as The Complete Anthology of Chinese Buddhist Prints and Decorations of Chinese Ancient Books, so my job offered me the material to think about Chinese culture, religion, and traditional aesthetics. This led me to explore the language of art and address the diversity of cultural language through interdisciplinary research and various other means of expression. When I was working with these books, I would also read a lot of other books. Reading gave me a broader vision and a deeper knowledge that I could employ as the main resource in my work.
Sculptures are usually static pieces, but your works can do anything, from expanding to contracting: did you set mutability and transformation as the prerogatives of your artworks?
Li Hongbo: It's more about the possibility of control over a certain space that my art works command. Controlling the space and material of the works is a focus of my art. When people look at a box, they think "It’s a box". But, actually, it can change into another thing. I want to change the image, change how people see things so that they think in another way, more deeply.
What kind of paper do you employ for your pieces?
Li Hongbo: I have experimented with many different types of paper. Environmental paper is the best.Yet whenever I see a new type of paper or an innovative and creative way to use it, my impulses drive me to explore yet again the unknown aspects that may be hiding in its language.
Which was the most complicated sculpture you made so far and how many tons of paper have you used for it?
Li Hongbo: "Ocean of Flowers" is my most complicated piece to date. I used 8 tons of paper to create it.
What kind of feedback did you get from the visitors of your recent exhibition at the Klein Sun Gallery?
Li Hongbo: Visitors at my exhibitions are usually shocked and interested. The works live in their memories long after they’ve left the gallery space.
Will you be involved in further events/exhibitions in 2014?
Li Hongbo: This year my sculptures will be on display at the Dennos Museum in Traverse City, Michigan, at the Cartasia Biennale in Italy, the 21c Museum in Louisville, Kentucky, and the Today Art Museum in China.
With many thanks to the Klein Sun Gallery, New York, for facilitating this interview and for translating the interview questions to and from Chinese.
Image credits for this post
All images Courtesy Klein Sun Gallery, New York.
1-4. "Li Hongbo: Tools of Study" exhibition, Klein Sun Gallery, New York.
5-6. Li Hongbo, Bust of David.
7-8. Li Hongbo, Bust of Marseilles.
9-10. Li Hongbo, Goddess of the Parthenon.
11-12. Li Hongbo, Sphere.
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