木玉明

Guirensi Temple

28 November — 28 December 2025

Warming by the Fire

Dimensions
53 × 37 cm

8 of 11

Picture Story

Charcoal and ink on raw xuan paper, 53 × 37 cm. Winter solstice (冬至) at the temple. On the left, villagers huddle around an iron brazier of open flame; a green-clad figure crosses behind; the temple hall with 佛陀 carved on the wall stands in the middle; on the right, a black dog keeps watch over the red offerings.

Project Story

《Guirensi Temple》 is an in-situ creation project carried out by the artist Mu Yuming at Guirensi Temple in Taining, Fujian, from 28 November to 28 December 2025. A small village shrine hidden in a mountain hollow, kept day-to-day by a local villager — the "temple keeper" — the place presents an ecology distinct from institutional monasteries: the villagers treat the temple as their own courtyard, sweeping at dawn, offering incense, tidying the altar, footsteps merging softly with the morning mist rolling through the hills.

The artist remained there for a full month, holding "my life is my art" as the core principle and fusing daily practice with artistic creation.

Self-made charcoal (from tea-fire embers) · raw xuan paper · ink