In 1989, Wu Ching began using pure gold as a new material cast in minutely carved wood molds. After 1990, he cast gold-sculpted versions of “Zen,” “Unhindered,” and “Dharma Bliss” which remain representative works of contemporary gold sculpting to this day.
In 1993, the National Palace Museum in Taipei acquired his large-scale gold sculpture, “Prosperous Descendants”, which was 280 cm long, 38 cm wide and 120 cm tall. With three bitter gourds and 238 ants as its subject, it combined various types of insects, grass, saplings and 80 grams of silver depicting soil for its base, as well as cast-bronze bamboo and canopy frame.
This sort of large-scale precious-metal sculpture was unprecedented at the NPM before, as was the acquisition by that institution of a work by a living artist.
In 2007, the National Center for Traditional Arts commissioned Wu Ching to undertake an exclusive collection. He completed the gold sculpture “Country Sentiment” (Endless Proliferation), in which he reminisced about playing in his youth with bitter gourds beneath their vines. The ensemble of insects constitutes a natural ecology and fully expresses the sentiment of a farming village and the romance of the wild countryside.
Since the work is 600 cm long, 420 cm wide and 420 cm tall, it required 15 kg of gold, 60 kg of copper and 80 kg of silver, setting a record for gold sculptured works.
