Let The Rivers Clap Their Hands. Sculpture Square, Singapore 2009

“Let the sea resound, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it. Let the rivers clap their hands, let the mountains sing together for joy.” Psalm 98:7-8

This is a new installation project that expresses my concern and desire for societal harmony among people of the world. I used natural media, including clay, wood and sand to depict the movement of water as the progression of life. Its sinuous swirl depicts symbolic sources of water; one cascading down terraces, and another bubbling up from an unseen subterranean origin. These symbolic water sources merge into and are pulled by a tightly woven vortex of sculptural pieces, in which I try to create a great turbulent energy. 

Often throughout history where rivers merge great civilizations have sprouted, such as at the Ganges, Yangtze, Euphrates, Tigris, Nile, etc. Despite their different points of origin and different journeys, with water as their commonality, they forged an even greater river. Likewise we have different cultural origins and experiences, but a common destiny. With globalization, the world is getting smaller. While trying to interact with one another, we see frictions like the churning of water when rivers of different sources meet. This is a metaphor for how our contemporary societies of different cultures can result in social conflict and chaos rather than in a peaceful harmonious exchange.

It is my personal desire for all societies to work together and to not act in a destructive way, but in a reconstructive way. Let the societies be as the rivers that clap their hands in union.