Biography

  • Biography

    LAI CHI MAN is a pivotal figure in the sculpture communities across the Taiwan Strait and Hong Kong, earning recognition from the international art world. Having lived in Hong Kong, Italy, the United States, the Netherlands, and Taiwan, he has returned to his cultural roots to seek identity. As one of the few Chinese artists who persistently work with stone sculpture,LAI CHI MAN holds a deep faith in nature, choosing natural materials for his creations. He transforms traditional Chinese cultural imagery into contemporary artistic language, elevating them into universal values through works like "Between" and "Landscape" series. With a unique perspective, he interprets traditional Chinese cultural symbols while adhering to the "pictographic" and "associative" principles of Chinese character creation. Drawing wisdom from ancient wisdom, he extends it to modern perspectives on life, nature, and their interconnections. The undulations, flows, and loops in his sculptures, along with the abstract lines and shapes on paper, spark boundless imagination.

  • 1949 Born in Hong Kong, Guangdong people, father Li Qin, mother Wu Huizhen. 1956 Worship Confucius line opening ceremony into... 1949 Born in Hong Kong, Guangdong people, father Li Qin, mother Wu Huizhen. 1956 Worship Confucius line opening ceremony into...

    1949

     Born in Hong Kong, Guangdong people, father Li Qin, mother Wu Huizhen.

     

    1956

    Worship Confucius line opening ceremony into the primary school.

     

    1967

    Inspired by a Henry Moore exhibition in Hong Kong, I embarked on a sculptural journey. This led me to Taiwan, where I became the first and only volunteer to join the sculpture program at the National Taiwan University of Arts (now National Taiwan University of Arts), enrolling in its fourth cohort.

     

    1973

    He graduated from the Department of Sculpture of National Taiwan College of Arts.

    During this period, the sculpture program at the National Academy of Arts still focused on figurative and representational techniques. From his time at the academy,LAI CHI MAN became deeply fascinated with Chinese character studies. While his classmates might have viewed Xu Shen's *Shuowen Jiezi* (The Classic of Characters) as a dull dictionary, it was for him a profoundly enlightening classic that he could not put down.

    In his works, Xu Shen clearly elucidated the relationship between Chinese characters and their physical representations. He defined "wen" (writing) as "depicting objects by analogy" and the "origin of material forms," while "zi" (characters) evolved through "phonetic-semantic integration" and "expanded linguistic capacity." Xu Shen also interpreted the "Six Writing Systems" first mentioned in the Book of Han as character construction principles: "Pictographic" involves concretely depicting physical features, as seen in characters like "sun" and "moon"; "Ideographic" requires visual recognition and semantic interpretation, exemplified by "up" and "down." These represent "character creation methods," whereas "Ideographic-Phonetic" combines two or more independent characters into new ones, and "Phonetic-semantic" merges visual and phonetic elements. Additionally, there's "loan character creation" through semantic/phonetic shifts, and "borrowing" where characters are borrowed from other contexts. These principles may seem unrelated to art at first glance, yet they profoundly reveal the shared essence of written and pictographic systems.LAI CHI MAN acutely recognized this connection during his early career.

     

     

  • 1974

     He went to the stone carving studio of Henlu (Henraux) in the stone mine area of Karala (Carara), and exchanged skills with famous sculptors such as Henry Moore, Noguchi and Pietrocasera.

    During this period, Li mainly carved three-dimensional pictographic Chinese characters made of marble. After arriving in kara in 1974, began to try to "pictographic" in the seal character, such as , <king, <>, through the method of sculpture into stone works, or the <growth, , , , and other natural phenomena, according to the principle of pictographic into simple and readable shape.

     

    1977

    He received a research scholarship from American sculptor Robert Russin and went to the United States to pursue a master's degree in Wyoming.

    During this period, Li expanded his artistic practice to include diverse media such as stone, wood, metal, and paper. He further explored the potential of sculptural language to convey the primordial essence of nature and the imagery of landscapes, even experimenting with ready-made objects to create conceptual works. Notable examples include his 1978 piece "Half a Bottle of Water" and the 1979 work "On the Boat."

     

    1974 He went to the stone carving studio of Henlu (Henraux) in the stone mine area of Karala (Carara), and... 1974 He went to the stone carving studio of Henlu (Henraux) in the stone mine area of Karala (Carara), and...
  • 1979 Married Pauline Weya in Hong Kong. 1980 He received a master's degree in sculpture from the University of Wyoming...
    1979

     Married Pauline Weya in Hong Kong.

     

    1980

     He received a master's degree in sculpture from the University of Wyoming and went to the Netherlands to become a full-time artist.

    In the Dutch period,LAI CHI MAN focused more on how to apply the principle of making Chinese characters to the performance of sculpture, and developed the "Between" series according to the subsidiary of "Zeng Yi".

     

    1982

     Qualified as a professional artist for the Dutch visual arts institution.

     

    1984

    He teaches at the National Academy of Arts (now Taipei University of the Arts).

    From 1973 to 1984, this 11-year international learning experience in three continents not only made him quickly hit the core issues of western sculpture at that time, but also prompted him to reflect and seek his own cultural identity, which was rather crucial to his lifelong creation. It laid a foundation for LAI CHI MAN's teaching career for more than 30 years.

    In 1982, the National Academy of Art (now Taipei University of the Arts) was founded in Guandu School. In 1984, he invited LAI CHI MAN to return to Taiwan to teach in the Fine Arts Department, becoming the first generation of modern sculpture college system in Taiwan.

  • 1989 LAI CHI MAN presided over Taiwan's first international stone carving creation camp in Tainan city, during which he also...

    1989

    LAI CHI MAN presided over Taiwan's first international stone carving creation camp in Tainan city, during which he also promoted the public art legislation in Taiwan.

    He has participated in many public art creations, and his works are exhibited in public places in different countries and regions such as China, Taiwan and Hong Kong, including local middle schools, courts and museums, which integrate and interact with the space environment and close the relationship between art and the public.LAI CHI MAN is widely recognized by the global art world. His works have been collected by the Dutch National BKR Visual Art Agency, the University of Wyoming Art Museum, Taipei Municipal Art Museum, Japan Original Art Museum and other world famous art institutions.

    After 50 years of creative career,LAI CHI MAN's works are highly praised by the Netherlands, the United States, Japan, South Korea, China... and the international art world. In addition, Mr.Li, a self-respecting stone servant, is also devoted to the development and promotion of public art in Taiwan, and has promoted the legislation of public art in Taiwan.LAI CHI MAN's outstanding position in Taiwan sculpture circle and his contribution to Taiwan sculpture education are the pioneer of Taiwan public art circle, and no one can be able.

     

    2016

    Retired from the Taipei University of the Arts.

     

    2021

    Signed an exclusive global representation agreement with Wei Gallery, Hong Kong.