Skillful craftsmanship creates works that are both physical and divine. Photo by Guo Longbi
Pan Kangming first drew a flat outline of the work on the drawing. Photo by Guo Longbi
Pan Kangming is seriously creating.
Photo by Guo Longbi
Pan Kangming is creating a statue of Yang Zai'an.
Courtesy of respondents
Pan Kangming participated in public welfare activities and taught children to make clay sculptures.
Courtesy of respondents
Pan Kangming's works have won many awards in domestic and foreign competitions. Photo by Guo Longbi
One of the works "Threesome". Courtesy of respondents
The second part of the work "Threesome". Courtesy of respondents
Wrestling. Courtesy of respondents
Clay sculpture is an ancient and traditional folk art in China. Wuchuan clay sculpture, also known as clay doll, originated from the late Tang and early Song dynasties, and was raised by the villagers of Wayao in Meiling Town. During the Tang Dynasty, the residents of Liaoling in Foshan migrated here, and the ceramic craft of Foshan Shiwan was introduced to Wuchuan. In the past, many poor Wuchuan people went to Foshan to work for their livelihood, and later brought back clay sculptures and clay sculpture techniques from Foshan. Since then, clay sculpture culture has taken root in Wuchuan, planting the seeds of clay sculpture art for generations of Wuchuan people, which has been passed down to this day.
The neighbors of Sanduan Village must not have imagined that the little boy who often played with mud by the river would one day walk into the temple of national and even world culture and art because of a mud doll. The frustrated teenager who failed the middle school examination did not expect that locking himself in the room all day long and "not doing the right thing", but let him embark on a different path of life. Today, let's focus on Wuchuan clay sculptures and feel the charm of Chinese folk traditional skills.
Country boy's plasticine
The greatest pleasure of Pan Kangming, a Wuchuan man, when he was a child, was to watch the teachers in the village kneading clay dolls, watching the pieces of unformed mud, which soon became various human figures, and he felt both excited and curious. The young Pan Kangming was fascinated by clay sculptures, and the clay sculpture stalls that passed by every day after school were his "interest classes". He always watched with relish, and then ran to the small river not far from home and started his own hands. Perhaps inheriting his father's skillful weaving of bamboo, Pan Kangming can pinch it just by observing the techniques of others.
After failing the middle school entrance examination, Pan Kangming became a construction worker, but he was always obsessed with clay sculpture, studying painting and clay sculpture techniques as soon as he had time, and also purchased many related books to teach himself. On rest days, it is often abandoned to sleep and forget to eat, wake up in the morning and start to make clay sculptures, and when you feel hungry and ready to eat, you find that the sun and moon rotate, and you don't realize that it is night.
In 2000, 20-year-old Pan Kangming heard that there was a clay sculpture class at the Lingnan Academy of Fine Arts, but the tuition fee was 8,000 yuan per year, while Pan Kangming's monthly salary at that time was only 1,000 yuan. In order to learn professional clay sculpture knowledge, he did not hesitate to pay the tuition with his savings. On the first day of school, Pan Kangming's heart blossomed. Tuition was expensive, but Pan Kangming at that time never thought that he would be able to make a living from this craft in the future. Learning, purely for love. In 2004, Pan Kangming studied at the Sculpture Department of the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts, and in 2007, he studied under the sculptor Professor Liang Mingcheng.
Good artistic endowment, diligent and studious habits, personality that does not accept defeat and the guidance of famous teachers have made Pan Kangming's artistic achievements improve by leaps and bounds, not only setting up his own studio, but also winning awards in domestic and foreign competitions many times, and admiring the customers who seek his creation.
Pan Kangming's series of masterpieces such as "Concubine", "Wrestling", "Millennium", "Cheng", "Childhood Impression", "Four Seasons", "Breakthrough", "Master Hongyi", "Threesome" and so on have won awards in domestic and foreign competitions for many times. In 2017, he won the title of "The First Zhanjiang Folk Art Master"; in 2018, he won the third place in the clay sculpture project of the 5th China Intangible Cultural Heritage Expo Traditional Craft Competition; in October 2018, invited by the China Ceramic Masters Alliance, Pan Kangming went to the Louvre museum in France with his sculpture "Wrestling" to participate in the 24th French International Intangible Cultural Heritage Exhibition... In addition, Pan Kangming often participates in organizing the display of works and charity activities of grass-roots folk craftsmen.
Ancient art Everything is malleable
Wu Song fights tigers, mighty generals, kittens and puppies... Clay sculpture art, where everything can be sculpted, is an ancient and common traditional Chinese folk skill.
Clay sculpture, folk commonly known as "color sculpture" and "mud play". According to reports, clay sculpture originated from Fengxiang County, Baoji City, which uses clay as raw material, mixes a little cotton fiber to mash well, uses carving, plastic, pinching and other techniques to shape the image of characters, animals and other images of the mud, after modification, polishing, drying and other processes, some also need to be burned to strengthen the hardness.
"Three points of plastic, seven points of color", the last process of clay sculpture is coloring. Generally, a layer of base color is applied before coloring to keep the surface smooth and easy to absorb the painted color. The painted pigments are multi-colored and mixed with water glue to enhance the color adhesion.
Pan Kangming said that clay sculpture can shape all things, with rich styles and themes, and his dedication to adhering to the creation of folk crafts based on local themes is used to obtain sculpture materials from what happens around him. Whether abstract or figurative, whether it is a sculpture on a small shelf or a large urban sculpture, Pan Kangming can master and skillfully shape works that are flexible and natural, and have both form and spirit.
Making clay sculptures requires certain painting ability and dexterous hands, and the most difficult part of clay sculptures is in the conception. How to make a flat portrait into a solid object, and turn the idea into a physical object, is a very test of skill. Pan Kangming used to draw the flat outline of the work on the drawing first, and then do it when he was confident, and with his agile fingers or hook or pick or wipe or rub, as if by magic, the mighty image of the general riding a horse soon took shape.
Wuchuan clay sculpture and Wuchuan fluttering color, Wuchuan flower bridge is known as the "three musts" of folk art, there is a wide range of mass in the local area, there are more than 300 clay sculpture artists in Meiling District alone. Every year, more than 100 sets of clay statues are molded during the Lantern Festival, and the streets and alleys are full of spectators and lively. In recent years, there have been new breakthroughs in the plastic process, and there have been high-difficulty dynamic modeling clay sculptures that can ride horses and fly up and down, and some are also lined with lighting sets, with music to set off, paint sounds and colors, scene blending, and more artistic effects.
The rich and diverse appreciation angles and strong visual impact effects of clay sculptures make them widely loved by the public. Public art, such as urban sculpture, which people can see everywhere and is accustomed to, all reflect the charm of clay sculpture and the market demand for it. Clay sculptures that people see in any corner of the city embody the wisdom and hard work of clay sculpture artists. The considerable economic benefits also encourage them to continue and pass on their skills.
Author: Mai Si Rong