Romancing the stone

French sculptor Polo Bourieau creates monumental pieces, a number of which are installed in public spaces in Hong Kong, Beijing and Chengdu. Published in May by the Hong Kong University Press, the 300-page hardback Written in Stone: A Journey Shaping Places in New Millennium China provides a profusely illustrated catalog of these works while also offering insights into the artist's practice, in his own words.

In one of the essays in the book, Bourieau outlines the kind of impact he expects his works to have on the local community. "I want my art to be experienced by children when they go to school," he writes.

Many of his sculptures depict huge solitary figures, frozen in motion, or looking into the distance. Bourieau says his figure sculptures — embodying "stories made solid" — are informed by the core idea in Joseph Campbell's book The Hero with a Thousand Faces. In it, Campbell argues that myths everywhere in the world share a common plot — that of a hero leaving home to explore other worlds, facing a plethora of challenges on his way, and finally returning home empowered by a divine gift.

One of the outstanding pieces featured in the book is Alice (2003), located in a private garden in Sai Kung. The fountain sculpture is informed by Venetian merchant Marco Polo's arduous odyssey through Asia in 1271-95 — as narrated in the explorer's account of his travels, Il Milione — as well as the 1865 children's classic Alice in Wonderland. Its form echoes the precariously balanced stacked Chinese teacups from the Mad Hatter's tea party in Alice, while the rim of each cup is inscribed with lines from Il Milione.

The four-piece Earth Dragon (2007), located in the Elements shopping mall in West Kowloon, references local folklore. The chapter on the sculpture mentions that around 1277, the young Emperor Bing, on sighting the peaks on the peninsula, had remarked that they looked like backs of dragons. His adviser responded by saying that the emperor should count himself as the ninth peak on top of the eight he had seen, and that's how Kowloon — which translates as "nine dragons" in English — supposedly got its name.

The artist wanted his dragon sculpture to look as if the beast was rising from the depths to protect the surrounding area. Made out of black granite from Shanxi province, the sculpture's stacked horizontal layers allude to the Earth's strata and the tectonic forces that cause mountains to rise. Its polished surface is the result of constant exposure to human touch. "Kids jump onto it, so the surface has taken on a leathery, moleskin-like texture. It has become darker," says the artist.

Installed in the middle of a pool in the lawn of Villa Lucca in Tai Po, The Rings (2022) is a massive sculpture depicting interlocked rings, carved out of a 40-metric-ton block of Carrara marble. The piece brings to mind moon gates installed in Chinese gardens as well as the infinity loop. Its reflection on the water makes it appear that there is a total of eight rings, signifying good luck, per traditional Chinese belief.

A 2-meter-tall hand, carved in Iranian titanium travertine and rising from a pond at a holistic residential development in Tai Po, is probably my favorite. Called Legacy (2020), the open palm-shaped sculpture represents Guanyin, goddess of mercy and compassion, offering water — a gesture signifying both generosity as well as an element in a meditation ritual.

"I used a crescendo of layers in the composition of the hand, creating a blurred illusion against the backdrop of the landscape to highlight the preciousness of water in our world," says the artist.

IF YOU READ

Written in Stone: a Journey Shaping Places in New Millennium China

By Polo Bourieau

Published by Hong Kong University Press

Price: hk $495 ($63.60)

https://hkupress.hku.hk/Written_in_Stone