Broken Balance
This sculpture, carved from translucent blue jade and presented on a base of petrified wood, depicts a tortured human figure bound between two trees. The work symbolically represents the four elements and their relationship to the human condition.
Earth is embodied by the strong trees that grow from fertile ground. Fire appears in the yellow tones of the leaves and trunk, illuminated by the sun. Air is suggested through the movement of branches and leaves shaped by the passing breeze. Water is represented by the jade itself, the material upon which the figure kneels, symbolizing both life and fragility. Beyond the elements, the piece reflects on the duality of life and death and confronts humanity’s capacity to inflict suffering upon its own kind, revealing a rupture between nature’s balance and human action.
Artist: BRAYNER ENRIQUE BRENES JIMENEZ
Born in Costa Rica in 1975, he began carving jade in 2014 as a hobby after work. In 2015, he secured a contract with the Jade Museum of Costa Rica. By 2017, he arrived in Antigua, Guatemala, already recognized for his complex work, where he visited jade workshops and shared his knowledge of carving techniques and tools. That same year, he joined Jade Maya in Antigua Guatemala as an assistant to master carver Dante López, participating in intensive training courses.
