The Three-pot Stove
Media: Mushroom, paper, wire, gypsum, glue, rubber
Dimensions: 120*70*80cm
Time: 2020
This sculpture is inspired by a particular kind of stove I encountered in Hunan Province. While typically a traditional Chinese stove only holds one pot, this kind has three, each can be used to cook a different dish. The three pots were connected by a tunnel beneath for smoke ventilation. The shape of the stove was also designed to be a curve, bending to the cook.
I am fascinated by the unique design of the stove, especially its hidden structure – the tunnel, which I turned into an imaginative reconstruction in this sculptural work. I grew mushrooms in bags and placed them into a curve to represent the shape of the tunnel. I applied different colors and materials to represent the three separate pots, which vary in sizes and are distorted into more abstract, organic forms. Through these artistic choices, I want to heighten the contrast between man-made and natural objects, which is already implied in the function of cookware, that is to turn nature into objects for human consumption.