Wallace Chan: Art in the Face of Adversity

For close to half a century, Wallace Chan has captivated and inspired art and jewellery connoisseurs with his monumental sculptures and delicate art jewels that are as fascinating as they’re thought-provoking.

His work has graced the halls of distinguished and highly discerning international exhibitions such as TEFAF Maastricht and Biennale des Antiquaires, and has been included in permanent collections of the British Museum, the Beijing Capital Museum, and Ningbo Museum.

The Hong Kong artist is widely admired for his refined technique, meticulous process, and superior artistry, as well as for the spirituality and wisdom of his masterpieces.

Yet the difficult journey that led to Chan’s emergence as a foremost jewellery artisan is even more compelling, giving his audience a deeper understanding and appreciation of his work.

In some respects, this is unsurprising. There is, after all, a common thread among artists who create deeply poignant work—Michelangelo comes to mind—and it’s that they’ve all gone through great adversity. Hardship is a known catalyst for heightened empathy, which in turn allows one to connect with others in a more profound and meaningful way.

A courageous start

Chan is no stranger to adversity. At the age of 13, he left school to work odd jobs. Three years later, his uncle urged him to become a gemstone-carving apprentice, knowing that working at a gemstone factory would equip him with a valuable career skill. Chan took his advice but soon realized he wanted a different kind of apprenticeship.

“I wasn’t learning what I wanted to at the factory—instead I was learning what other factory workers were doing,” he says.

While the decision to leave the apprenticeship was concerning for his family, the young man was convinced he had a unique path to pursue. “I consider myself a brave person, in the sense that I’m willing to work hard—I’m not afraid of hardship. I wanted to explore the world out there,” Chan says.

Thus began his journey of teaching himself how to carve. With two pieces of malachite and a few small tools, at 17 he launched his career. This unconventional course to learning, however, was not driven solely by a strong determination to carve his own path. It was also guided by his Buddhist philosophy.

Soulful reflections

“Buddhist thinking talks about the road or the path leading to the universe,” Chan says. “When you want to really understand the universe, you need to first forget who you are, forget your own existence so that you can become part of the universe.”

Establishing this connection requires letting go of distracting thoughts and desires. “If we’re too obsessed with our daily lives, what’s going on with the money, our own personal emotions, then we wouldn’t really be able to appreciate the universe. We wouldn’t be able to elevate ourselves to a different level,” Chan says.

The young man went on to work tirelessly for one year and a half with the little capital he had, and at one point lost all his earnings to a dishonest customer. But he persevered, driven by his tenacity and spiritual beliefs.

This spirituality seeped into his craft, becoming embodied in every masterpiece he created. “I believe that all things in the world have their internal spirits—there’s a spirit in everything in the world. There’s a life in them. If you give out your love to an object or a living thing, you’ll get that in return,” Chan says.

Along with these philosophies, he drew inspiration from his own difficult life experiences. “We might say that we love heaven, we love the earth, but if we don’t understand pain or we don’t understand heartache then we don’t have experiences that are profound enough to really grant us wisdom,” Chan says.

These life experiences, core beliefs, and perseverance eventually led to his awe-inspiring pieces, which he created using the skills and techniques he perfected after numerous trials and errors through the years. It’s not an easy craft, Chan explains—the tests are endless.

But a diamond isn’t made overnight, so he has forged on. And while he has received numerous accolades and sits among the truly great contemporary artists, Chan continues to innovate and find ways to bring his art to the next level, whether it’s through tools, techniques, or the use of unconventional materials.

Making the cut

Among Chan’s great achievements is the creation of the Wallace Cut technique, which he first introduced in 1987. Using a ground-breaking process that combined seemingly contradictory techniques such as intaglio, hollowing the gemstone, cameo, and relief engraving, Chan carved a figure into the back of a transparent gem that reflects multiple times as light shines through.

Perfecting the technique was no easy feat. This period in Chan’s life was especially difficult—he faced bankruptcy and suffered a stroke. Yet his relentless spirit and belief system endured.

“In Buddhist thinking, if you forget yourself but at the same time you love everything in this world, then you’ll be able to enter a state where you’re minimal, but the world is huge. You’ll be able to enter a state of mind with which you can better understand the world and the universe,” he says.

Constantly evolving

Throughout his life, Chan has never stopped growing and improving, whether in the way he approaches his craft or his sources of inspiration. Adhering to no trends, he is guided almost exclusively by the callings of his heart and soul.

Between the mid-90s to the early 2000s, Chan focused on creating large-scale sculptures for Buddhist monasteries. Among those projects was a jewelled Great Stupa meant to house a precious relic for a Taiwanese monastery.

Working on this project was a turning point in Chan’s life, which he describes as a process that allowed him to experience both mental and spiritual changes, compelling him to become a monk for half a year. When he returned to jewellery-making and carving after that period, he brought a more enlightened approach to creation.

However, while Chan’s jewellery pieces became internationally known in the 2010s, many of his carvings and sculptures remain largely unknown to the world. Yet, he has continued to pursue new mediums and materials.

Chan was among the first artists to experiment with titanium not only in jewellery-making but also in large-scale sculptures. During this period, he also revisited the use of porcelain, which resulted in the Wallace Chan Porcelain, a material five times stronger than steel, but also colourful and smooth, making it ideal for jewellery and sculptures.

These days, Chan’s work endeavours to create a conversation between materials and the space they occupy. For instance, Chan’s monumental work A Dialogue between Materials and Time is a series of free-standing sculptures, many of which feature a colossal head whose facial features are calm and serene but also ancient and otherworldly.

In the work, he juxtaposes the lightness and durability of titanium with the heft and corrodibility of iron. In this context, titanium suggests something more ethereal, while iron is more earthbound. The interplay between the two can be seen as a metaphor for mortality and eternity.

In August 2022, Chan held a sculptural exhibition entitled Totem at the Fondaco Marcello in Venice. The exhibition featured an installation composed of multiple unassembled parts of a 10-metre titanium sculpture positioned across the floor space.

This exhibition was influenced by Chan’s personal journey of contemplation and curiosity about life, nature, and the mysteries of the universe. In many ways, the installation ties into his deeply held Buddhist faith, his devotion to the natural world, and the inherent qualities of his materials.

At 66, Chan is showing no signs of slowing down. Every adversity he has faced is a form of renewal that energizes him to create something even better, grander, and more poignant. Despite his unrelenting optimism, however, there’s one hardship that Chan never wants to face. “For me, the most difficult part is not being able to create on a daily basis,” he says.

After all, bringing beauty and hope to people is part of Chan’s mission.

“I inject energy into my creation—I inject love into the pieces so that these pieces make people feel joyful. They bring hope to people,” he says.