A middle-aged sculptor, Huang Ma-ching was born in the Beitou fishing village, Lukang Township, in 1952. His family lived a hard life. Due to poor health since childhood, Huang was unable to work as a fisherman like other members of his family. After graduating from elementary school at the age of 14, Huang became an apprentice at the workshop of wood sculpture master Wang Ching-tsuan on Putou Street. He started to learn decorative cutting and how to carve the statues of Buddhist or Taoist gods and the patterns on palanquins carrying those gods’ statues. Because of his consistent practice, Huang built a solid foundation for his later wood carving career, owing his style to that of the Quanzhou school which is characterized by exquisite craftsmanship.
　　After his continuous production over the years, Huang has been increasingly recognized for the natural style demonstrated in his works. More and more people come to visit his workshop. In 2002, due to the original workshop’s limited space, Huang started planning for the opening of a new workshop of his namesake, hoping to educate the public about wood sculpture and let more people understand how to appreciate the beauty of the art. For the moment, Huang displays at the first and second floors of the workshop a collection of his wooden sculptures over the years, which are put side by side with the awards he has won up to date and multi-media introduction to those works.

Northbound Southbound