Chinese secrets buried in Australian animal carvings go international

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This was published 6 years ago

Chinese secrets buried in Australian animal carvings go international

By Julie Power

Archibald finalist and Sulman winner Jiawei Shen asked for "three crabs and a turtle" in exchange for painting a family portrait for his Bundeena neighbour, 64 year-old John Dublewicz.

Shen didn't want live animals. He wanted some of Mr Dublewicz's wooden carvings of native animals that are capturing the imagination of Chinese buyers here and overseas.

John Dublewicz's wooden carvings are capturing the imagination of Chinese buyers.

John Dublewicz's wooden carvings are capturing the imagination of Chinese buyers. Credit: John Veage

"I've virtually gone from Maianbar, Bundeena, with 360 people to Shanghai, 26 million," said Mr Dublewicz, a high school sports teacher. Last year he visited China with artists Wendy Sharpe and her partner Bernard Ollis as part of a delegation organised by Sydney-based Chinese author and arts administrator Ginger Lee to test the market for modern Australian art.

It was Ms Lee who fell in love with Mr Dublewicz's work while visiting Jiawei and his wife Lan Wang in Bundeena, where many artists live.

John Dublewicz turned to woodworking after he finished building the family's house more than 20 years ago.

John Dublewicz turned to woodworking after he finished building the family's house more than 20 years ago.Credit: John Veage

She saw the head of a wooden kookaburra he'd carved in one shop window. A few metres away in a local art gallery, Ms Lee saw a Royal Easter Show ribbon hanging from a stingray that won Mr Dublewicz second prize for woodwork in 2016. Ms Lee bought the stingray for $750 and other works on the spot.

"His artwork is so detailed and is very beautiful," she said. When she showed his carving of a catfish to her friends in mainland China, they thought it resembled the Chinese philosopher Confucius.

"The catfish looks like it is 2000 years old," Ms Lee said.

Mr Dublewicz turned to woodworking after he'd finished building the family's house more than 20 years ago. He started carving using bits of beautiful wood he found or bought. The first was a box for his daughter carved from huon pine.

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"I was competitive in athletics, and I am competitive in wood carving," John Dublewicz says.

"I was competitive in athletics, and I am competitive in wood carving," John Dublewicz says.Credit: John Veage

When we speak, he is "down in the gulag", as he calls his dark, dingy and dusty workshop stacked with wood.

"Some of it I found on the side of the road, others on the beach, the better pieces I buy," he said.

Beneath the gecko carvings lurk hidden compartments.

Beneath the gecko carvings lurk hidden compartments.Credit: John Veage

These days, the animals seem to emerge from the whorl and the burl of the timber as if they have been living beneath the grain all along.

Once a competitive sprinter, Mr Dublewicz still holds an Australian record for the over 35s. These days he isn't driven by the finish line but by the red dots that signal a sale.

Some of the wood John Dublewicz carves he finds on the beach or the side of the road.

Some of the wood John Dublewicz carves he finds on the beach or the side of the road.Credit: John Veage

"I was competitive in athletics, and I am competitive in wood carving,

"In an art show, it is not the prize but the adulation of someone buying, and then seeing the red dot," he said. "I love the red dot!" he repeated.

John Dublewicz has won best woodcarving at the Royal Easter Show for his carving of eight lizards on a log.

John Dublewicz has won best woodcarving at the Royal Easter Show for his carving of eight lizards on a log.Credit: John Veage

When visiting China last year, an official noted that the woodworker had come in second in the Easter Show competition and asked him who won first.

"I saw that as a challenge, and told him 'You watch what happens this year', and I did win," he said.

A crab carved by John Dublewicz.

A crab carved by John Dublewicz.Credit: John Veage

This year Mr Dublewicz won first prize in his category at the Royal Easter Show and a certificate of achievement for his sculpture of geckos popping out of a log. Like many of his works it now reflects a Chinese influence, with secret boxes hidden in the burl of the wood that contain amethysts or coins that represent good luck.

The geckos look natural. But secret magnets pop the lizards out of the wood log, revealing hidden compartments.

Animals emerge from the timber as if they have been living beneath the grain.

Animals emerge from the timber as if they have been living beneath the grain.Credit: John Veage

"People get mesmerised when they open it up," he said.

He is now working towards an exhibition of his work in China in 2018, and there is some talk that his native animals could be reproduced.

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