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Profile | ‘Some people thought I was crazy’: jewellery artist Wallace Chan on why destruction is part of creation, and being married to his work

Wallace Chan, jewellery sculptor and creator of the Wallace Cut gem-carving technique, talks about the time he begged HK$1,000 from his parents to set up shop

He tells Kate Whitehead about running away from home in his mid-20s, how other art forms influenced his gem-cutting technique and the reason he did not remarry

Reading Time:5 minutes

Jewellery sculptor Wallace Chan talks about growing up in poverty, finding his calling as an artist and seeing the light. Photo: courtesy of Wallace Chan

Published: 1:15pm, 20 Nov 2022

I was born in 1956 in Fuzhou, China, and when I was five years old I moved to Hong Kong with my parents, sister and two brothers. We lived in poverty in a subdivided flat and life was difficult.

Because I didn’t understand Cantonese, it took a long time to find a school that would accept me, and it wasn’t until I was 12 that I started attending classes at a “rooftop school”. I remember the teacher scolding me because I struggled to tell the difference between the letters “M” and “N”.

My schooling lasted barely two years and I was 13 when I started working full time to help support the family.

I worked many jobs – as a delivery boy, in a textile factory and selling on the street – but it was an unstable life, and I wanted stability and a skill that could provide me with warmth and food.

Chan shows off one of his intricately carved pieces. At 13, after only two years of school, he started working full time to support his family. Photo: Isaac Lawrence

Thanks to an introduction from my uncle, I got an apprenticeship at a gemstone carving workshop. The export of Chinese artefacts was a thriving industry and the agreement was that I’d be there six years, but after nine months I was frustrated by the repetitive nature of the work and left.

It was not a smooth departure; my family was furious, and my uncle felt he’d lost face.

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