Inspired by his residency in New York between 1980 and 1982, he began a new and endearing art series called Living World series. The series aims at depicting humanity, everyday people, especially female characters in the early days of Taiwan, performing everyday tasks. Here in Lot 178, two females of different ages are sitting on a bench conversing in vivid pink folk costume, going about their everyday existence. Ju intentionally left out specific titles for these works because he would like the sculptures to express their own meaning without the restrictions imposed from a title.
Ju's approach here is the pursuit of representational similitude, a form of naturalism, which diverges from his Taichi series, which emphasis was on geometric forms, minimalist shapes and movement. Wood is a relatively modest and unpretentious material, and the artist's choice of using wood strengthens the earthiness of the subject matter. His skillful technique of shallow carving and use of intaglio lines brought expressiveness to the figures. The rugged and unpolished state of the wooden sculptures gives prominence to the physicality of the raw material itself. The idea here is for the artist to highlight the natural integrity of wood, and express the value of the material, underlying the purity in the simplicity of everyday life.
As an apprentice, Ju Ming trained in the painting of carvings, his mentor Lee Chin-Chuan believes that, "Unpainted carvings are like people without clothes." Traditionally, the use of colors came from the Chinese temple architecture and the hues reflect local cultural distinctiveness. Indeed, the bright pink of the sculptural figures encapsulate the purity of Taiwanese folk culture. Furthermore, the painted wooden sculpture demonstrates the artist's renew interest in humanistic values, his affinity towards nature and the sacredness of the mundane and the ordinary.