New Zealand artist Steve Woodward was one of the nearly 500 international artists to apply for a place in the Guilin Yuzi Paradise project, this year. He was one of the 10 finally selected and has just returned from a month working on site. NZ Sculptor in Yuzi Paradise www.yuzi-paradise.com
New Zealand artist Steve Woodward was one of the nearly 500 international artists to apply for a place in the Guilin Yuzi Paradise project, this year. He was one of the 10 finally selected and has just returned from a month working on site. NZ Sculptor in Yuzi Paradise www.yuzi-paradise.com
NZ Sculptor in Yuzi Paradise www.yuzi-paradise.com
Guilin Yuzi Paradise, was founded by Mr.Rhy-Chang Tsao, President of Taiwan ChinPaoSan Group, and lies in the picturesque Dabu Township, Guilin, South China.
Mr Tsao's vision was to create a huge visual arts project where eminent artists from eastern and western cultures can work with the support of the centre and create their own work, which is then located in the incredible park like grounds of Yuzi in Guilin or in the galleries on site.
Later this year Steve returns to China to complete work on his sculpture, he is the only New Zealand artist ever selected. So far the project has 120 works of art on site.
Artists are asked to submit proposals, which are then judged by an independent panel who only view images of the proposed work, they are not given any information as to the ethnicity, gender or age of the applicant.
Applications for the next round are available on the Yuzi Paradise website now.
The artists are provided with airfares, accommodation in luxurious architecturally designed suites on site, all meals, materials, translators and exceptionally qualified assistants to work with.
The scale of this project is unbelievable, plans are underway to hollow out a hill to create an underground gallery, and all the existing buildings are works of art in their own right.
Steve has created a 12 metre high bronze work called "River Stick"; the attached images show work in progress on site in one of the artist's studios in Yuzi. The finished work will be cast in bronze.
Steve Woodward is represented in New Zealand by Deborah White of Whitespace.