Pressed Flower Art Exhibition Closing Ceremony & Finale

An extensive exhibition of art by the Taiwanese master of floriculture, Shanshan Shiao, can be seen in the Fo Guang ShanTemple's Fo Guang Yuan Art Gallery.

Opening times: from Sunday 6 September until Sunday 22 November 2009,
Tuesdays to Sundays 10.30am to 4pm. Guided tours of the Temple and exhibition are available on Saturday and Sunday from 11am until 2pm. Admission is free.

Wandering Comfortably in the Floriculture: Flower pressings by Shanshan Shiao

The artist
The artist, Shanshan Shiao comes from Taichung in Taiwan and is married to Chairman Feng Zhonghan. She believes deeply in Buddhism, practicing meditation to cultivate mindfulness, concentration, tranquility and insight, all of which you will see reflected in her pictures. She has shown several successful personal exhibitions but we are honoured to be the first Western country to exhibit these works of art which are currently on a world tour of Fo Guang Shan monasteries.

Shanshan Shiao is considered to be one of the foremost artists in the medium of pressed flowers, an art form originally from the West. Shanshan Shiao has always loved flowers. However, when she became a student of floral arrangement she realized the brevity of the life of the flower which led her to use processed flowers as material to create images of Buddha¡¯s, Bodhisattvas, birds and animals. Shanshan¡¯s whole life is absorbed with art and has established the West-Window book club to which she invites experts to teach artistic curricula, thereby broadening knowledge of art theories

Her creations with floral materials not only give a unique artistic value to the flowers but also extends their life. Flowers not only reflect life, they also reflect human hearts. A good heart is like a flower that brings joy to others. Flowers always show their most beautiful side to people without holding anything back. Therefore, life should also be like a flower; offering and sharing all that we have and make this world more beautiful.

The pictures
Looking at Shanshan Shiao¡¯s pressed flower art you can find that even the simplest image is made up of numerous petal cuttings and special pastes. The process is quite complicated because each piece of flower petal has its special quality; the trace and the skin texture. She also uses silk as a base, while combining different elements

Through Shanshan Shiao¡¯s clever artistry we can see enjoy and appreciate the changing views of the magnificent Buddha Bodhisattva and the adorable and mysterious insects and birds. The lovely images of birds and animals are created in Chinese Shui-Mo, which means ink and wash painting. Her pictures show ingenious vividness .They are complex and intricate. Her ability to match colours is exemplary, having had no professional training in chromatics.

Visitors are certain to be inspired by her work that touches the hearts of people from many different countries, races, cultures and living backgrounds.