The Artist, Ah Xian
Ah xian practice: he collaborated with a number of bemused but accomplished local artisans. Using their technical skills he created casts of family and friends using traditional Chinese methods.
In 1996 and again in 1998 he returned to China, travelling to Jingdezhen — famous for kilns which for centuries produced fine porcelain objects and vessels for the Chinese imperial courts — to learn traditional techniques. Working with master potters, he learnt the processes of molding from life, decorating, glazing and firing
The artist, Ah Xian, combines traditional Chinese decorative arts with the western portraiture tradition of sculpted busts, and in the "flesh" they are breathtakingly beautiful.
"If I had not come to Australia I would not have had the idea. It was only after a few years in Australia that I had a better perspective on China."
Ah Xian's China China series of porcelain busts was begun in 1998. His works in this exhibition were produced in Jingdezhen, Jiangxi province, in collaboration with artisans from various studio-kilns around the city. Jingdezhen was the center of China's porcelain production in the early Ming, continuing into the Qing period when export wares to Europe became important for trade. In Ming times, Jingdezhen was reported to have three hundred kiln complexes, each with certain firing specializations. The techniques, styles, designs and glazes one sees in Ah Xian's busts are also evident in the selection of traditional works that are mainly from Jingdezhen. For example, the ubiquitous dragon design and underglaze cobalt blue glaze are just some of the commonalities between the traditional and contemporary works in this exhibition.
Ah Xian's sculptures in porcelain and more recently in lacquer and cloisonné represent Chinese artistic traditions, but technical and stylistic mastery are only one aspect of this exhibition. China Refigured also explores ideas of Chineseness or Chinese identity. In Ah Xian's work, casts of the human
In 1996 and again in 1998 he returned to China, travelling to Jingdezhen — famous for kilns which for centuries produced fine porcelain objects and vessels for the Chinese imperial courts — to learn traditional techniques. Working with master potters, he learnt the processes of molding from life, decorating, glazing and firing
The artist, Ah Xian, combines traditional Chinese decorative arts with the western portraiture tradition of sculpted busts, and in the "flesh" they are breathtakingly beautiful.
"If I had not come to Australia I would not have had the idea. It was only after a few years in Australia that I had a better perspective on China."
Ah Xian's China China series of porcelain busts was begun in 1998. His works in this exhibition were produced in Jingdezhen, Jiangxi province, in collaboration with artisans from various studio-kilns around the city. Jingdezhen was the center of China's porcelain production in the early Ming, continuing into the Qing period when export wares to Europe became important for trade. In Ming times, Jingdezhen was reported to have three hundred kiln complexes, each with certain firing specializations. The techniques, styles, designs and glazes one sees in Ah Xian's busts are also evident in the selection of traditional works that are mainly from Jingdezhen. For example, the ubiquitous dragon design and underglaze cobalt blue glaze are just some of the commonalities between the traditional and contemporary works in this exhibition.
Ah Xian's sculptures in porcelain and more recently in lacquer and cloisonné represent Chinese artistic traditions, but technical and stylistic mastery are only one aspect of this exhibition. China Refigured also explores ideas of Chineseness or Chinese identity. In Ah Xian's work, casts of the human