Huang Xiaomei, a 42-year-old native of Xiangyuan County, is a representative inheritor of the traditional handmade clay sculpture of Changzhi City's municipal intangible cultural heritage.
The expressions, postures, and clothing of each work are different, and the inner world conveyed is also very different. Huang Xiaomei said that if you want to create a good work, you need to think repeatedly at the beginning of creation, and when you start to make and draw, you need to constantly polish and even overturn and start over.
Clay sculpture art is an ancient and common folk art in Chinese folk tradition, which is made of clay as raw material, hand-kneaded, plain or colored, mainly with people and animals. Today, clay sculpture has become an important part of Huang Xiaomei's life. After more than 20 years of practice, she believes that traditional handicrafts are not outdated, and can be presented in a new way, integrating their own ideas into their works, and constantly innovating while adhering to tradition, so that clay sculpture art can be better developed and inherited.
Huang Xiaomei's clay sculptures cover a wide range of subjects, including mythological and legendary figures, historical celebrities, opera characters, childhood memories, sculptures, etc. With her love and dedication to clay sculptures, she has created thousands of clay sculpture works such as "Pulling Carrots", "Good Tiger", "Longing" and "Listening to Grandpa's Stories". Huang Xiaomei's clay sculptures originate from life, but they are higher than life, making people in the ocean of art and bringing the enjoyment of beauty.
The collision of ancient and tide, the game of slow and fast. Craftsman Huang Xiaomei adheres to the excellent traditional culture while constantly exploring the road of the future. She went to various primary and secondary schools to bring the craft of clay sculpture into the classroom again, so that "intangible cultural heritage can enter the campus" and traditional culture can be passed on from generation to generation. Up to now, Huang Xiaomei has trained more than 300 clay sculpture talents.
No pain, no gain. Huang Xiaomei was recognized as the representative inheritor of the traditional handmade clay sculpture of the municipal intangible cultural heritage and the master of arts and crafts in Shanxi Province. The image of his works is realistic, free and easy, with a variety of postures, different temperaments, vivid, and a strong local flavor. (Source: Shangdang Evening News Li Yanghong)
Editor: Yuan Yifan