Former PLA pilot creates Silk Road statues for Italy(2)

(Photo provided To China Daily)

In 1966, after China's first nuclear missile test, Chen and two other air force colleagues accepted the assignment of collecting air samples over the blast site. The exposure to radiation made the three extremely ill five years later, and Chen was the lone survivor. He retired from the air force in his 30s.

Since then he has immersed himself in the world of sculptures and other artworks.

"I push myself to work hard as long as I think of my colleagues who died in their early years," he says.

In the front courtyard of his residence-cum-studio on the outskirts of Weifang city stand statues of the arhats. It took Chen nearly 30 years to complete them. Slightly larger than life size, the statues depict the Buddhist monks in different ages ranging from energetic youth to old, toothless people.

"They are different from traditional solemn Buddhist statues. I've tried to show these monks' true feelings and affections based on my experiences and observations in real life," Chen says, adding that each statue has a different facial expression, body posture and personality, and seems to be telling the viewer a story.

Chen spent two years visiting numerous temples in India, Nepal and the Tibet autonomous region where Buddhist paintings and sculptures have been preserved, in a bid to understand his subjects well.

"It usually took one or two months to create a statue, but some even took several years as I came across new ideas while making them," says Chen.

Besides the sculptures, Chen has made statues of numerous Chinese mythology, historically and cultural figures such as Confucius and his 72 disciples.

"Traditional Chinese culture includes a wide range of virtues such as benevolence, faith, tolerance and harmony," Chen says. "I try to use my sculptures to express the ideas ... which are also needed in today's world."

Chen rises at 5 am and works for more than 12 hours daily. There's still much he needs to do, he says. "I'm always afraid of not having enough time."