From Humble Beginnings To A Leading Name In High Jewellery

Critically-acclaimed Chinese artist and master jeweller Wallace Chan will never restrict his creative freedom, easily shifting from art to jewellery or from crystal to steel, as long as he’s able to create. He speaks to Y-JEAN MUN-DELSALLE about how he went from humble beginnings to a leading name in high jewellery and crafting towering titanium sculptures.

Wearing a long, unruly white beard, self-trained Hong Kong based jeweller and artist Wallace Chan considers his mystical creations to be his children, and the creative process as an opportunity to reinvent himself each time. There’s an air of Chinese sage Confucius about him as he dispenses pearls of wisdom. “When I’m working on my sculptures, it’s a process of deconstruction, construction and reconstruction because it’s about my inner self, how I constantly try to look for the meaning of existence,” he says. “When I’m working on my pieces, I’m also working on myself. Art gives us the power to transcend ourselves and our realities. I believe in conveying hope and the power of transcendence through art.”

Constantly chasing after growth in himself and the materials he uses, after spending eight years taming rigid and stubborn titanium for his jewellery at a time it was still unconventional, Wallace wished to push the boundaries of titanium even further in 2019 by applying it to make monumental sculptures. One of the few artists internationally creating large-scale artworks out of titanium today, Wallace’s latest exhibition Totem at Fondaco Marcello in Venice (running until Oct 23, 2022, as part of the 59th Venice Art Biennale) features a deconstructed version of his 10-metre-tall titanium sculpture, A Dialogue Between Materials and Time, Titans XIV. Multiple peaceful, Buddha-like heads with eyes closed and elongated ears are strewn across the floor, suggesting the social fragmentation and uncertainty currently faced by society. Inviting visitors to walk inside the artwork itself rather than viewing it from a distance, the labyrinthlike installation encourages them to search for themselves and seek out the unknown.