Pottery artist Zhong Wanyao gets lots of attention for her remarkable talent in transforming pottery and porcelain into delicate female forms.
Zhong's works, which were on exhibit during the 12th National Exhibition of Fine Art in 2014 in Foshan in Guangdong Province, show her creativity as far more advanced than her contemporaries and her attention to detail is simply remarkable.
Zhong came from a family of potters. She had been exposed to the porcelain and potterty workshops at a young age. Her dream was becoming a crackerjack pottery-maker. Zhong later enrolled at the Department of Sculpture of the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts.
Like any other girl, Zhong's affinity for dolls and trinkets and ornaments later became her inspiration into becoming a master in her field. She is an artist who captures her audience's unique personalities.
Zhong's works centered around female characters. She incorporates modern women's fashion into her age-old pottery and porcelain sculpture, bridging the gap between the ancient and the modern. Her mastery of the technical side of pottery and porcelain gives Zhong an edge to express her creativity. Zhong's visual play into flowers and full blossoms were important factors in depicting the female figure.
According to her, "pottery can serve as a platform to bridge the gap between the ideal and the real. Female figures in my pottery are not confined to one type but can take on a multitude of different forms. Being independent, being fashionable, being compassionate are prevailing expressions or feelings that women display in their life, which is also my interpretation of contemporary Chinese women from the perspective of art."
Zhong added that sometimes it is hard for her to be accurate in her depiction of women using language, especially when it comes to every particular woman's inner self.
"Pottery art can help me achieve that," the artist concluded.