Gu Wenda believes that artists should be diplomats and aid in making peace around the world. To do this, Wenda uses human hair and Elmer's Glue to make his pieces.
Wenda explains how is art is about transcendence. For example, he took something (hair) that he considers to be waste from the body and what pretty much everyone else thinks is gross if it's not attached to someone's head and made beautiful, intricate works of art with it. Wenda's works are also very cultural. He states that instead of physically depicting the different races that make up our world, he collects them in his art. It is his hope that his pieces unify not only races, but people as a whole.
To make his works, Wenda first thins out Elmer's Glue until it's a workable consistency. He places the glue on top of a sheet of plastic afterwards. Wenda then arranges the hair (which he collects himself from various people) based off of a pattern he places underneath the plastic sheet. Once dry, he peels off the glue and hair concoction and attaches it to rope. The end result are these translucent, rectangular sheets of swirling and intersecting lines that reach towering heights. Text also plays a major role in Wenda's works. They mimic the look of different languages, but on closer examination, they're just gibberish. This represents the misunderstandings that can happen during a cultural exchange and how these misunderstandings are actually a creation of another culture.
ArtBabble. Indianapolis Museum of Art, n.d. Web. 23 Apr. 2014.
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