The Eternal Garden: Titanium Art by Aka Chen - Bowers Museum

Aka Chen (Taiwanese, 1965-) is one of the premiere artists around the world today working in titanium. His debut solo exhibition in the United States, The Eternal Garden: Titanium Art by Aka Chen, showcases an exquisite assembly of 20 sculptures that ingeniously combine the intricacies of contemporary jewelry with fluid compositions of brush paintings. Spanning a diverse range of sizes from small vases to 30-foot-wide polyptychs, these sculptures feature ethereal branches cradling exquisite jewelry representations of blooming botanicals and animated wildlife, all crafted from the surprisingly robust material of titanium. With these masterpieces, the exhibition explores Chinese philosophy, the aesthetic qualities of the Chinese garden, the integration of natural elements within literati studios, and the emblematic use of the garden as a symbol for self-awakening in Chinese artistic tradition.