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Art

Shen Shaomin: Experimental Studio: The Thousand Hand Buddha and Bonsai

  • Shen-shaomin_bonsai37_lg_large

Chinese artist Shen Shaomin uses mismatched groups of human and animal bones (some real, some cast in plaster) to form skeletal creatures that wouldn't look out of place in a natural-history museum's evolution display. On closer inspection, though, any semblance of science gives way to mysticism. The Thousand Hand Buddha traces the nine stages of development of a many-armed Vishnu-like being whose remains are proof of both life and death. Shaomin continues these natural manipulations in his Bonsai series — inspired by ritual foot-binding, he uses metal grips and vices to contort miniature trees into aesthetic studies.

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