Lai Chi Man is convinced that the use of every inch of materials in sculpting ought to carry conceptual meanings rather than production of forms without any sense. “Lai Chi Man Solo Exhibition” presented by the Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts, TNUA showcases his works over the years in materials ranging from stone, steel, hemp rope, brass, etc. fused via techniques like sculpting, welding, molding, and casting. Spending time with these materials, the artist hammers emotions and notions onto the surface of matters while penetrates the contemplating tension within matters, displaying the diverse postures of sculpture. The exhibition also presents Lai's paintings rarely seen. Visitors may savor the contrasts of square vs. circle, intangible vs. tangible, forms vs. colors, and natural vs. artificial while roaming and viewing in the space. From the tension stirred up by lines, the order of tranquility born from abstraction, and so on and so forth, one shall observe the rigorous thinking process of Lai Chi Man in creation, while experiencing the scenes and affection with the paintings and sculptures as references to each other.


About the Artist
Born in Hong Kong in 1949, Lai Chi Man studied sculpture at the National Taiwan Academy of Arts (the predecessor of the National University of Arts today). Afterwards, he went to Henraux at Carrara, the hub of sculpture in Italy known to the world, for sculpture learning. In the meantime, Lai had the opportunity to work with eminent world-class artists like Henry Moore, Isamu Noguchi, and Pietro Cascella. After four years of study, he was awarded the Robert‭ I. ‬Russin Fellowship in Sculpture‭ and further his education ‬in Wyoming‭, ‬U.S.A., thereby receiving his M.F.A. degree from the University of Wyoming, U.S.A. in 1980. Then, Lai went to the Netherlands for study. In 1982, he was admitted as a member of professional artists in the Netherlands and kicked off his career as an artist by trade. Being the forerunner for the first generation of the modern sculpture academic education system in Taiwan, Lai returned to Taiwan at the invitation of the National Institute of the Arts (the predecessor of the Taipei University of the Arts today) in 1984 to teach at the Department of Fine Arts, until his retirement in 2016, with over three decades of his life dedicated to the education of stone sculpture art. Lai’s philosophy for stone sculpture employs the natural forms and textures of the material, along with the cutting of the personal will. The seemingly sporadic randomness, combined with the natural amusement from the relationships between textures, is the artist’s persistent dialogues with materials. It is an incarnation of his mind born from years of banging and shaping in an attempt to preserve essence, whereas the composed confidence as well as the vivid perpetuity manifested therein bears witness to the culmination of the sculpture aesthetics of the whole generation in Taiwan.‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬