Wallace Chan's 'Vessels of Time' Explores Birth, Memory and Eternity in Titanium
Creatrip Team
4 months ago
Hong Kong–based gemstone carver and sculptor Wallace Chan has created a new dual-city exhibition, “Vessels of Time,” previewing with a 7-meter titanium installation titled “Birth” at Shanghai’s Long Museum and opening in Venice at the Chapel of Santa Maria della Pietà. Inspired by simple votive oil vessels seen in Venice, Chan assembled the Shanghai tower from thousands of titanium, aluminum and steel parts, gears and tiny human figures to evoke memory, spirit and the passage of time. The series — marking Chan’s 70th birthday and curated by James Putnam — will show three large titanium vessels representing birth, growth and death; the Long Museum centerpiece even allows visitors to enter a mirrored, kaleidoscopic interior referencing his Wallace Cut (his acclaimed gemstone-carving technique). Largely self-taught, Chan shifted from gemstone carving to monumental titanium sculpture to explore permanence vs. impermanence; he makes the works entirely by hand without digital fabrication or AI. The Venice chapter opens May 8 during the 61st Venice Biennale, with the Shanghai presentation following July 18.
