A royal maiden, inspired by Spanish master painter Diego Velazquez's Las Meninas, from Wu's solo exhibition Menina, staged at the Today Art Museum in Beijing from April-July. [Photo provided to China Daily]

It's been a long journey for an architect from Henan to fulfill his childhood dream of making it as an artist, Zhu Linyong reports.

"Art is my religion," declares Wu Ningya, an architect and artist from Zhengzhou, capital of Central China's Henan province, on Dec 18 at the opening of Melting Objects.

Running through Jan 8 at Xi Space in the Debi Cultural and Creative Industry Park in Beijing's Dongcheng district, the show is the second installment of his debut solo exhibition, Menina.

Melting Objects builds on the success of the event held at the Today Art Museum in April, a large-scale multidisciplinary show centered around Diego Velazquez's painting Las Meninas.

"It was my childhood dream to become an artist. The desire to create timeless art has always been hidden in the depths of my heart," says Wu, 56. "Now that I have obtained financial freedom, I would like to pursue inner freedom through art."

But when Wu abruptly declared his decision to "embrace art wholeheartedly" at his 50th birthday party on April 6, 2013, his colleagues, friends and family were a little shocked－prompting some to think it was simply a moment of madness.

The veteran architect told them that he would quit all his business undertakings and devote the rest of his life to artistic creation.

"It was not a hasty decision. I thought about it over and again." Wu says, adding that he "had been preparing for that day for years".