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Tai'an artist brings Ningyang Wu family's clay sculptures back to life
Updated: Jun 10, 2022
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Wu Xiguang is a sixth-generation inheritor of the Ningyang Wu family clay sculpture technique, an intangible cultural heritage (ICH) item in Tai'an, Shandong province.
The clay sculptures of the Ningyang Wu family, who hail from Ningyang county, are fashioned from local clay using a variety of techniques, including collecting, mixing, kneading, drying and baking clay.
The clay sculptures of the Ningyang Wu family are mainly divided into two categories: one is based on the furnace transmutation glazing to depict traditional Chinese cultures, and the other depicts folk customs and arts, as well as life in rural areas.
Wu Xiguang produced innovations based on earlier clay sculpture craftsman's experiences to give the Ningyang Wu family's clay sculptures greater local features and ornamental value.
Wu's clay sculpture artworks are good at exhibiting numerous living forms in Ningyang and people's hardworking, honest, and kind nature by sculpting exaggerated body shapes and facial expressions.
