Chen Weiming (sculptor)
Chen Weiming
is a Chinese-born New Zealand artist and sculptor.
Chen was commissioned by the New Zealand government to create a 3-meter bronze statue of Edmund Hillary in 1991. In 2008, he created a 6.4 meters high replica of the Goddess of Democracy that currently stands in the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Chen created a large-scale relief representation of the Tiananmen massacre in 2009, on the 20th anniversary of the massacre. The Tiananmen massacre relief and the Goddess of Democracy replica were both displayed in Hong Kong during protests in 2010.
Chen was born in Hangzhou, China, and emigrated to New Zealand in 1988. He holds a New Zealand passport as well as permanent residence in the United States, and lives in both countries.
In 2011, Chen traveled to Syria to fight alongside Free Syrian Army rebels fighting in the Syrian uprising.
