Chinanews.com, Lanzhou, December 24th (Yang Na) On the workbench of Chang Tianping, an intangible inheritor of clay sculpture in Linxia Hui Autonomous Prefecture, Gansu Province, there are lifelike little clay figurines with different shapes, which are either raised or bundled. Grain, a busy "autumn harvest" is in full swing.
Obsessed with clay sculpture for more than 30 years, Chang Tianping used clay figurines to show the life around him, restoring the scenes of busy farming with his parents and relatives when he was a child. Many scenes in daily life are displayed in his hands.
"I have accumulated a lot of cultural materials of the land of Longyuan through visiting villages and households for so many years, and I want to show them to more people through my skills."
When Chang Tianping was a child, it was from his father who was a carpenter that he experienced respect and awe for the craftsman for the first time. Every time he came home from school to help his father do carpentry work, his father’s superb skills were appreciated by the villagers. In his young mind, he planted the seeds of becoming a craftsman in the future and relying on this skill to support his family.
"Influenced by my father, I have been obsessed with art since I was a child." It is this love that Chang Tianping still did not give up his dedication to art even in the absence of professional instructors.
In 1983, he paid homage to Qi Yongwu, a local folk artist, the fifth-generation successor of clay sculpture in Jishishan County, Linxia Prefecture, as his teacher. He spent more than three years specializing in folk handicraft painting and clay sculpture. In the process of making folk handicrafts, Chang Tianping found the right position and specialized in learning clay sculpture skills.
The picture shows Chang Tianping's clay sculpture showing the harvest scene.
(Data map) Photo by Liu Yutao
Chang Tianping said that due to living in the depths of the mountains, without the guidance of a professional sculpture teacher, the improvement of skills encountered a bottleneck.
In order to broaden his horizons and improve his theoretical level, in 1995 Chang Tianping was admitted to the Fine Arts Department of Lanzhou Institute of Education by self-study, and began to study comprehensively and systematically from the basics of sketching, art theory, and Chinese and foreign art history.
College life allowed Chang Tianping to master professional knowledge more systematically, combine sculpture theory with practice, and further improve his level of creation and sculpture.
In 1997, by a coincidence, he cooperated with the famous sculptor He E in the country to complete the design and production project of 36 clay sculptures imitating the artistic style of the Tang Dynasty in Jiuquan City.
On June 8, 2022, a huge group of clay sculptures made by Chang Tianping, an intangible inheritor of clay sculptures in Linxia Prefecture, Gansu Province, was exhibited in Zhangye.
(Data map) Photo by Yan Jiao
"In the 3 years of working with Mr. He E, every day is a classroom, and I seem to have been in college for another 3 years." Chang Tianping said that Master He E's meticulous attitude towards work and enthusiasm for creation encouraged him to find himself The positioning and the inculcation of artistic creation have laid a solid technical foundation for him to independently complete clay sculpture art creation and innovation in the future. The three years of art time are the motivation and source for his later creation of "Hezhou clay sculpture".
Precisely because he has identified his own position, Chang Tianping has abandoned the traditional clay sculptures that he has persisted in for more than 20 years since ten years ago. Farming culture, pastoral life, contemporary style and other works.
He hopes that his works will not only make people stop and watch, but also touch their souls and resonate with them. He hopes to use ordinary tools in his hands to carve out the wonderful lives of ordinary people, and use humble mud to create fingertips. Clay sculpture works of art.
Although his works have won many awards in recent years and have been exhibited all over the country, Chang Tianping said that every time he sees his booth, there are gray-haired old people who stop to watch. The clay sculpture works remind the old people of their youth , Missing the nostalgia that can't go back, he feels that his creation is very valuable and meaningful.
In the process of creation, Chang Tianping also paid attention to the cultivation of successors.
In 2017, with the approval of the Human Resources and Social Security Department of Gansu Province, "Chang Tianping Provincial Skills Master Studio" was established, and Chang Tianping became the sponsor.
For this reason, Chang Tianping used the studio to carry out more creations and cultivated a group of outstanding students.
"The construction of the skill master studio project is very timely. We have a fixed place, so we can create with more peace of mind." Today, in his studio, a number of excellent works are exhibited here all year round for tourists from inside and outside the province to visit and appreciate. He hopes that more people will understand the artistic charm of folk handicrafts, and he also hopes that these small clay figurines can let everyone appreciate the profound and splendid culture of Longyuan.
(use up)