"These soldiers listen to nobody but me. I'm the commander. I give them titles, provide them with warships. I even clothe them," Ju said.
Next September, on the fifth anniversary of his Museum's opening, the National Troops series will be installed there. Ju hopes the president will attend the event to give a "military review" so that they can become real soldiers.
The 60 figures representing KMT troops that he is also currently working on present a sad scene of a retreating army in the face of communist forces in the late 1940s. Two figures have already been completed in bronze, while others are still in Styrofoam.
In creating the dispirited, crippled and ill-equipped soldiers, Ju is fulfilling a promise he made over 20 years ago.
"I was in Rome for two months to help with the shooting of a movie. Wei Shu (
"They could not possibly win and yet had to fight. Nobody knows how helpless they were. He asked me to let people know about their story through my work," Ju said. "At the time I was so moved I promise to do this. But I never had the occasion to do such a big project until now."
"People say that life is a play. If that's true, then my museum is my stage and this project is the biggest play of my life," Ju said. The monumental sculpture, which Ju expects to finish within three years, is exceptional in scope. The total weight will be around 100 tonnes and will cost him NT$30 million. Already in serious debt after the construction of his museum, Ju once again shows he is willing to risk everything to accomplish what he thinks he has to.
In the spring sunlight outside his studio, Ju demonstrates how he works. Picking up a saw, Ju carves away in rapid movements. In a matter of minutes, a Styrofoam block is shaped into a soldier straining to push a cart of rations.
"Every slash is confident. Every cut matters. That's just me," he said.
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