THE ATTRACTION OF FLOWERS
EXHIBITION AT YORKSHIRE ARTSPACE SHEFFIELD
2nd February – 23rd March 2006
CLICK on Individual artworks in the above pictures to view them more closely
Flower Paintings
Piers Says of his flower paintings, “I am interested in the beauty of flowers. It seems strange to me that flowers, which are mostly designed by nature to attract insects and birds, should be so attractive to humans as well. It is as if there were a universal law of beauty that applied to all living things.”
Although the paintings look modern, they are painted in a very traditional way, comprising a careful build up of layers of colour using both transparent and opaque oil paint.
The numbers in the titles, (i.e. Flower 7) designate the order in which the paintings were painted.
Carved and inlaid Stone work
The stonework in this exhibition is the result of the artists’ first attempts to find ways to transmit his own designs for relief carving and stonework using computer technology to China for the objects to be hand carved, to his exact specifications.
The last fifty years have seen a huge decline in the amount of stone carvers working in this country,
because stone carving is so time consuming to produce. Indigenous British carving has become extremely
expensive, and is becoming rarer and rarer. On the other hand, in China there are many hundreds of skilled
stone masons, but their designs are not necessarily relevant in Western culture. By using computer
technology, the artist is trying to bridge this gap and produce one off complex hand carved objects
more suitable to British tastes.
These are the two excellent carvers who so patiently and skilfully turned my designs into reality.
It was a long process. I am very grateful to them for their hard work.
Mr ZHEN CHUANG YE, Carver of the Four Seasons Fireplace. Mr ZHANG PENG YANG,Lead carver of the Tree of Life.