Harmony between Tradition and Modernity, Chinese and Western
—Ma Shuyao and Her Sculptures
Guo Maolai
In 2005 I was invited by the Beijing Institute of Technology to write a book, Three Dimensional Structure. When I was collecting information in preparation for writing this book, I came across Ma Shuyao’s sculpture Barber, an excellent model to study. The work is natural and pure, emanating the aesthetic feeling and producing an illusion of time and space. It truly presents a pleasant experience for those who view it on the street. So I incorporated this work into my book and wrote her a letter expressing my appreciation.
In fact, I was not unfamiliar with Ma. Her husband, Mr. Cui Heting had taught me when I was in technical secondary school; and in the 1980s, we were working for the same studio and living in the same apartment building. I once assisted her in working on an 8-meter high sitting sculpture of King Dou which was commissioned by the local Bureau of Cultural Heritage of Hebei province. Even back then, I was deeply impressed by her dedication to her sculpting career.
As the sculpture is very large, we had to produce a clay model in the required size and then a plaster cast on it. Half of our work was done under the cast. The working environment under the cast is extremely foggy and humid making the whole process extremely exhausting. After finishing it I often boasted of the experiences I endured in creating this tough project. But Ma seemed totally unaware of her surroundings during our time on this sculpture. She holds the rare quality of being an artist who clearly cares more for the work she produces rather than the actual working conditions and the effort she must exert.
Ma and Her husband, Mr. Cui Heting then worked for Arts and Design College in Hebei Normal University, and I left for Industry Design Faculty of Hebei University, and then to Zhejiang Jiaxing University. It has been years since we left one another making the unexpected encounter with her work even more moving and surprising.
Ma Shuyao’s art language has become greatly diversified. In my view, both her personality and her work strongly exhibit traditional qualities. Folk-custom Series and Four Seasons represent her realistic technique and the ability to extract the essence from life and incorporate them into her works. At the same time, there are some “alternative” works, such as Everyone Enters into V, the Mongolian Wrestler and Joyful Farmer House. They each exhibit different content and different technique.
Everyone Enters into V (in Chinese, 人人入V), made of steel, is a prodigious urban sculpture combining symbols of both China and the West. The Chinese letter “人 (Everyone) ” is linked with an abstract and decorative bird figure as a union; the bird figure is combined with the Latin letter “V” into the second union; and the third one is composed of “人” and “V” by borrowing a part from each letter; the three unions finally build up a “united union” symbolizing the universe, human beings, environment and victory. The creator expressed the values and philosophy of China and herself in a simple language. She believes only the harmony between the heavens and humans can lead us to escape the morass that is present in the post-industrial age.
The Mongolian Wrestler is a portrayal of a splendid athlete. This works fully utilizes her application of Chinese art theory: the expression of spirit, emotion and personality of the portrayed object are much more important than likeness or the reality interpreted through our eyes. We can easily feel the rapid light-footed movement of the heavy man and his bountiful energy, courage and fearlessness when confronted with a powerful opponent. The work also reminded me of Balzac, the masterpiece of Auguste Rodin. These two works both bypassed the details and conducted a wild and unconventional treatment of the figures.
She used three-point perspective and plane image to produce the relief sculpture, Joyful Farmer House. Her aesthetics originated from the tradition of folk art and stone carving of the Han Dynasty. In keeping to this tradition, the scale of the objects is different from actual visual perception and the important parts are always magnified, such as the head and the eyes. This style works to bring great happiness and a sense of freshness to viewers.
Ma Shuyao is faithful and persistent to her arts and her audiences. Her passion, efforts and talent ensure the success of her works, as well as her career as a sculptor.
