Golden Snake Dancing with New Meaning

--Dance Of The Golden Snake : The Zodiac Era of Chen Han

Xu Jiang

The zodiac is a unique culture in China, and also a kind of identity code for every Chinese person.

The Chinese zodiac originated from the ancient agricultural culture of China and has a deep connection with animal worship. The twelve zodiac animals represent the image of the twelve earthly branches, namely the Rat (Zi), Ox (Chou), Tiger (Yin), Rabbit (Mao), Dragon (Chen), Snake (Si), Horse (Wu), Sheep (Wei), Monkey (Shen), Rooster (You), Dog (Xu), and Pig (Hai). The living animals are connected to the invisible chronological branches, making the impermanent time visible and vivid, and also revealing some laws and meanings of life. Here, it not only reflects the rise and fall of all things in nature, but also contains the secret of cyclical mutual growth and decline. Zodiac animals are like animals, there is no absolute superiority or inferiority. Each life has its own ups and downs, and its own destiny. In the journey of personal growth, one should be happy with what they encounter, adapt to nature, keep up with changes, and be content with themselves. To seek the essence of survival in every life, to temper the winds and rains around, and to see the auspicious times for its development. The character and meaning of the zodiac, the entertainment of the growth and prosperity of all things, believe in cola!

In 2025, the Year of the Snake has arrived. The golden snake dances wildly, bringing abundant blessing. Sculptor Chen Han held a grand exhibition of the "Golden Snake Dance" as the year of the Snake approached. Zodiac, Earthly Branches, Animal Joy, and Human Joy are exactly the themes of this exhibition. On the rectangular iron pillar of Ningbo Art Museum, the wrapped "Fuxi and Nü wa" with cartoon dragon heads and snake heads hold up the folk theme high. Entering the exhibition hall, you are greeted by the "zodiac chain" on top of the circular basin.The zodiac figures held hands, with a charming and innocent demeanor. On one side is the "Dragon Soaring, Tiger Leaping" with outstretched arms, and on the other side is the "Colorful Dragon" like a turtle or deer. The audience is immersed in an animal park named after the zodiac sign.

On one side of the large iron plate, there is a winding and stretching "Journey of the Dragon", which is dazzling and eye-catching. The expression, spiritual transformation, and wisdom of the Year of the Snake are illuminated here by cartoon shapes.

This cartoon style representation of zodiac animals originated from Chen Han's preference and understanding of Chinese agricultural culture. Nü wa and Fuxi, are the legendary gods of creation in ancient China. Their human heads and snake bodies intertwined with each other, creating all livings in the world. The tiger Yin and the dragon Chen are the most energetic animals among the twelve zodiac signs. Chen Han casually picked these animals up and molded them into the twelve zodiac animals, like Nü wa kneading earth to create humans, narrating the joy of Chinese style creation. Chen Han also used painting to depict the revitalization of the shapes of the twelve zodiac animals, showcasing the new vitality of traditional culture in the contemporary art context.

As a PhD student at Tokyo University of the Arts in Japan, Chen Han is known for his expertise in figure sculpture. After returning to China, Chen Han was immersed in the real mountains and waters of China. The wind and mist are clear, the sky and the Mountains share the same hue. Following the river as it flows and surges, the boat drifted east or west as it pleases. The landscape gradually merged with people, and Chen Han was immersed in the portrayal of characters like mountains and winds. The "Weathered Memories", series of large-scale pottery figures he created are like mountains and rivers, like towering walls, and like clouds expressing the wind and rolling mountain mist. The towering cliffs and misty mountains resemble the body of a goddess, sleeping soundly. The green mountains rise and fall, and the wind and mist sway, embodying the poetic essence of mountains and wind. This time, he applied this wind directly to the stretched human body, with dancers expanding and swaying in style. It's difficult to create a feeling of cloud and wind in the creation of the heaviest entity in sculpture. Chen Han let its dance movements stack up, bringing out the lingering shadows of the wind. And an iron frame was used to contrast the silver plastic body's sway. Dancers are like the wind, merging with the "disco" of the twelve zodiac animals, they form a swirling "Golden Snake Dance".

Chen Han made dancers look blurred by means of sculpture overlapping, and solidified the Chinese zodiac signs by deforming folk paper-cuts and pottery figurines. The combination of the virtual and the real forms the basic treatment method for this exhibition. However, the essence of this method lies in the intentional connotation of oriental style. This image is neither the reality of the natural world, nor the twelve zodiac animals and dancing dancers themselves in real life; It's not just a purely imaginative concept, but the spirit and charm of the dancer's dance. It is the joyful representation of Nü wa, Fuxi, and the leaping of dragons and tigers: it is the spiritual and creative expression of incorporating the laws of reality and virtuality, and freely entering and exiting in various modeling activities. This kind of spirituality and creativity is the true essence of Eastern sculpture, and it also signifies a new era that inspires viewers to dance with it.

The Golden Snake dances with a new meaning. Chen Han's exhibition to welcome the transition from the Year of the Dragon to the Year of the Snake presents the joy of the New Year in vivid and changeable ways of sculpting. We dance along with it and we share the joy of the creator.

——Written in Hangzhou

December 31, 2024