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Chinese Burden
Artist: Yin PeetSize:Weight
Material: GraniteYear completed:
Chinese Burden is one of my largest bodies of work—not in physical size, but in number. It consists of one hundred miniature sculptures carved from Chinese seal stone. Each is different, yet together they form a portrait of the human condition.
I grew up in Taiwan, surrounded by centuries of Chinese philosophy and Zen Buddhism. After living in the United States, I found myself looking back at those traditions with fresh eyes. Rather than illustrating religious ideas, I began using them to explore universal questions about desire, attachment, fear, compassion, ambition, and acceptance.
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The word burden does not simply mean suffering. It refers to everything we carry through life—our memories, expectations, relationships, beliefs, and dreams. Some burdens weigh us down. Others give our lives meaning.
Unlike traditional figurative sculpture, these figures are not intended to be anatomically perfect. Their enlarged hands, feet, and unusual proportions express inner states of mind rather than physical appearance. Each sculpture tells a different story, and no two are alike.
I invite you to walk slowly through the collection. There is no beginning and no end. You may find yourself smiling at one figure, puzzled by another, or unexpectedly recognizing yourself in a third. Together, these one hundred sculptures become a mirror of our shared humanity.
Perhaps the greatest burden we carry is trying to understand ourselves. Perhaps it is also the most worthwhile.
This series also became the foundation for one of my later monumental granite sculptures, Human Burden. Many of the ideas first explored in these miniature carvings continued to evolve as they grew from intimate studies into large-scale works.