Poren Huang (1970-), a Taiwanese sculptor was born in Taichung, located in central Taiwan. His grandfather and parents engaged in wood carving business. In his youth, he majored in sculpture at Fu-Hsin Trade & Art SchoolIn 2001, Poren Huang had joined Graz International Sculpture Exhibition in Austria. He has also participated in several prominent art fairs in both Taiwan and overseas. His well-known pieces include aboriginal-figures and personified dogs. The National Taiwan Museum of Fine Art has already collected two of his works.His work “The Archer” has been published in textbooks for senior high school students in Taiwan.

Poren Huang was born into a family of woodcarvers in Dajia District, Taichung. Both his grandfather and father were engaged in the woodcarving business. During its heyday between 1960 and 1980, more than 100 woodcarvers were restlessly working at the Huang’s woodcarving factory. They even had to sleep at the factory’s dormitory at night. The scale of the woodcarving factory was very big; the products were exported to various countries. The land where the factory situated is very big and stored a lot of woodcrafts. A single piece of unprocessed high-end wood costs more than $30,000 at that time. However, since the security system was not install during that time, the “Taiwan Dogs” were used to guard the factory and home in order to prevent the woods from getting stolen. The Huang’s Taiwan Dogs have existed continuously for generation, hence Poren Huang grew up in an environment surrounded by sculptures and Taiwan Dogs.

Poren Huang has an innate sense of delicacy and fancifulness. In today’s society, he has his own distinct thoughts toward human nature and generational changes. He wants to transmit his thoughts through new art creations instead of duplicating craft (such as 80,000 pieces of the same Guan Gong sculptures). However, his father threatened to “renounce” him if he became an artist. He wanted him to continue producing wood sculptures, so that he could at least have a steady income. His father had no choice but to use the threatening tone because there were quite a few woodcarvers who had left the woodcarving factory in the hope of becoming romantic artists.

Through “The Dog’s Notes”, Poren Huang expresses that he will never abandon either his family or his creative artworks.

Since graduating from the sculpting group of Fu-Hsin Trade & Arts School in 1989, he did not run away from home like other romantic artists. Instead, he designated a small area at the factory for himself. He used wood, metal, rocks, and other cheap sculpting materials, and he strived to participate in sculpting competitions in various places. Throughout the years, he has received numerous awards. He has also attracted numerous visits from the media. His father then became aware of the matter, but he could not help in worrying about his son.

Starting 2005, Poren Huang created “The Dog’s Notes” to express his care and loyalty toward his family. Although the elders were not being understanding, he has tried really hard to express himself. While using humorous ways to convey his ideas, he has also demonstrated his determination for guarding the freedom of creative artworks. Like the Taiwan Dogs, he is loyal, pure, and courageous; he manifests the positive attitude as a whole. This is exactly the inspiration obtained from the Taiwan Dogs in his home. In 2007, Poren Huang’s father passed away. He accompanied his father through the last days of his life in the hospital and created the sculpture “Every Day is a New Start”. He hopes that people can cherish every present moments and manifests golden-like positive radiance which shines eternally everyday in life.

Poren Huang’s works became popular globally and continued to manifest positive attitudes which influence and touch a lot of people. Every sculptures are highly meaningful and have long-term mission, which is for the betterment of people in this 21st century, especially in the mind!

Works by the artist