At the beginning of the year, I heard that a certain locality planned to erect a mega sculpture with a height to break the Guinness World Records, which generated heated discussions. What matters in sculpture, similar to other categories in arts, is not size, but the artistic quality.

It should not be forgotten that there are small display sculptures in the family of sculpture art. Some of the world’s most influential giant sculptures were born from countless small sculptures. Some small ones are vivid, rich in connotation and intriguing. Their unique artistic charm enchants viewers. A group of rough pottery sculptures created by the famous sculptor Liu Shiming are such excellent works of art. Dating back to the 1980s and 1990s, they reveal some life scenes of ordinary people at that time in China in a lively and humble way. His work themed on Boat series, Cave Dwelling series and Farmhouse series, Loess Style series, and Urban Style series are unpretentious and straightforward. They tell the truths in real life, without beating around the bush or posturing. For instance, Wooden Raft on the Yangtze River, Boat on the Yellow River (aka. Boatmen on the Yellow River), Ansai Waist Drummer, Popcorn, Soldiers from the People's Liberation Army Repairing Houses after the Earthquake, and so on all come from the most ordinary life, but every character and every object reflects the sculptor’s fascination towards them, which reminds viewers of the many beautiful details in life.

An artist’s creative style is a comprehensive reflection of his or her personal life experience, cultural upbringing, artistic cultivation, and character. Born in Tianjin in 1926, Liu Shiming was one of the first sculptors trained by the Central Academy of Fine Arts after the founding of New China. Among his teachers was Professor Wang Linyi, an older generation sculptor who studied in France in the 20th century.

Upon graduation, Liu Shiming worked in Beijing for a while and then spent many years in grass-root cultural institutions in Henan and Hebei where he fully experienced the joys and sorrows of life and accumulated abundant materials for creation. For example, Performer Backstage, A Farmer on His Way to Market, and Mongolian Girl's Water Cart are impossible to create in the absence of immersive life experience and deep feelings.

Liu Shiming’s pottery sculptures are concise, lively, and to the point. They are neither whitewashed nor deliberately exaggerated. They preserve the original taste of life without retaining excessive details, which feels warm and natural, thus enabling viewers to appreciate the beauty of life and art. All these benefits from Liu’s learnings and research on traditional Chinese sculpture. After 1974, he restored cultural relics in the National Museum of Chinese History (now the National Museum of China) for many years, which exposed him directly to a large quantity of best pieces of traditional Chinese sculpture. Especially the rough and simple pottery figurines, pottery houses and pottery ware from Han and Wei dynasties undoubtedly had a profound impact on Liu’s aesthetics and techniques. The Farmhouse series obviously draws on the format of the Han pottery figurines to give a faithful portrait of the countryside in contemporary China. Underground Cave Dwelling series, Nap after Lunch, etc. are able to evoke a rural reminiscence with an authentic setting and the people who are enjoying themselves. The images in Liu’s artworks are the representation of his feelings towards the original in life, which is based on his perception of the essence of life. He stays committed to his own artistic principles, and freely, he creates with clay and passion. He was so devoted and so sincere that sometimes the techniques of expression may seem immature, and yet the result is touching.

Regardless of financial returns, Liu Shiming creates quietly day after day, offering the world happy pottery figurines.