Like politics, culture is never far from Kuan's mind. It has shaped him as a person and now, he says, shapes the pipes he makes. He imbues each design with a sense of place and history and hopes that collectors from around the world will eventually see his pieces as unique to Taiwan.
Each pipe is etched with the date it was competed and Kuan's imprimatur that the pipe was made with his own hands. It was once suggested to him that his pipes might be more marketable abroad if he wrote the English word "handmade" on them. It was an idea he scoffed at.
"I'm Chinese. This is Taiwan," he said. "Why would I write English on them? I'm not making souvenirs!"
One of Kuan's pipes can cost anywhere from NT$10,000 to NT$50,000, if he's willing to sell it all. The pieces that are most special to him, like Xuandan, aren't for sale. Instead, Kuan says he would rather give the pipe to a fellow pipe maker from overseas who felt as strongly about it as he does. It would be a way of sharing his passion for the art with the rest of the world. And that, he said, is what is most important to him now.
"There are few pipe lovers in Taiwan," he said. "I want pipe lovers around the world to see my art appreciate it and know where it came from."
Kuan's workshop is located in Kaohsiung's Pier 2 Art District, at No. 1, Tayung Rd., Yencheng District, Kaohsiung, Taiwan. His works can also be seen online at http://kuang-pipe.myweb.hinet.net/.
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