As the fourth-generation inheritor of Yunyu Porcelain Manor, a century-old porcelain-making family in Dehua, Su Xianzhong constantly explores the transformation and poetic expression of traditional craftsmanship in the contemporary context. His admirable work “Paper” has been included in the “Investigation of Things” chapter of the exhibition by the curator, while another set of works that inherit the family spirit, “Waiting for Flowers to Bloom,” is presented in the “Synesthesia and Nature” chapter.
Artist Su Xianzong’s work, “Waiting for the Flowers to Bloom,” features a profusion of blossoms and interspersed flowering trees. The dense bouquets are composed of individual small flowers, showcasing the traditional sculpting technique to its fullest extent and offering a fresh interpretation within a contemporary context. Making “flowers” is a family tradition for Su Xianzong. His great-grandfather, Su Xuejin, a renowned porcelain master from Dehua, won a gold medal at the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition with his work “Plum Blossom.” Each generation of inheritors has continuously explored and developed the art of “flowers,” and the flowers continue to bloom. “Waiting for the Flowers to Bloom” is Su Xianzong’s long-awaited floral-themed creation. Inspired by the pandemic in 2020, he worked on it from early March to the end of October, expressing pure nature. Attentive viewers may notice two small birds perched atop two of the bouquets; in the artist’s words, “It’s a kind of personal reflection.”
The porcelain flower making technique described in “Waiting for the Flowers to Bloom” is an important category within Dehua’s traditional crafts, known as sculpting. This technique was originally used to decorate traditional figures with ornaments, such as ladies wearing flowers in their hair. It only began to emerge as an independent category in the late Qing Dynasty. This category has a long history. Why do I make flowers? Because four generations of my family have been involved in porcelain flower making. My great-grandfather’s award-winning work at the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition was a hand-sculpted porcelain plum blossom. From him onward, this flower-making technique was separated and developed into an independent art form. Today, it has formed a system, flourishing throughout Dehua with various expressions of flowers.
“Waiting for the Flowers to Bloom”—”waiting” is a state of being in a certain time, a person waiting; “flowers blooming” is also a state of being in a certain time, and this state of being is quite interesting to me. The flowers my elders made reflected the life context of their era, but I will pay more attention to the characteristics of our era today. Some people say that we live in a mixed era, without many boundaries, so the colors I use in my flowers also have a relatively mixed feel. Many people who see it say, “This looks like something a young girl would make.” I say, “That’s right.” This shows that my mindset is still young, and I will always maintain a positive attitude to face my future creations.
