Baoji is located in the middle reaches of Weihe River in the Yellow River Basin. It is the hometown of Emperor Yan and the birthplace of Zhou and Qin Dynasties. It is called the hometown of folk arts and crafts. In the late 1980s, when the cultural relics and archaeology department was cleaning an ancient tomb in Longxian County under the jurisdiction of Baoji City, it found a batch of painted clay sculptures, one of which was a tiger-shaped clay sculpture. It has been confirmed by experts that these colored sculptures are precious cultural relics in the early Spring and Autumn Period, with a history of 2,700 years, and are the earliest colored sculptures discovered in China so far. Liu Ying Village in Fengxiang County is only over 80 kilometers away from Longxian County. It is unknown whether Fengxiang clay sculpture is related to the colored sculptures unearthed in Longxian during the Spring and Autumn Period, but it is an indisputable fact that Liu Ying clay sculpture flourished in the Ming Dynasty more than 600 years ago. Liu Ying clay sculpture technology has been passed down from generation to generation, and almost everyone in the village knows how to paint sculptures.
Hu Xinming was born in Liu Ying Village, 1965. His father Hu Yi and his mother Ning Lucui are folk artists who are good at clay sculpture, dough sculpture, paper-cutting and embroidery. The famous artist Shen Hu is Xin Ming's grandfather. Xin Ming was influenced by the folk art atmosphere in his hometown since he was a child. When he was four or five years old, he loved small animals very much, mixing a piece of mud to pinch this and that, and often sitting in one place watching birds fly or cats play for a long time. Then he squeezed his findings and understanding into small animals made of clay. Xiao Xinming also paints red and green with his elders. He can do anything, like painting, paper cutting and embroidery.
Hu Xinming will never forget the happiness of his childhood and the bitterness of that year. In the middle and early 1970s, he had no worries about food and clothing since he was sensible, and clay sculpture became a begging skill to supplement his family and exchange rations-but he was afraid of being criticized as the tail of capitalism and had to do it secretly. In his early years, Xin Ming followed his father to pull mud toys with carts, and went from village to village in Longxian and Huating, hundreds of miles away, playing with goods and selling a dime, in exchange for meager income to buy something to eat on the black market. The peddlers simply exchanged mud dolls for some steamed buns, rags and old leather shoes.
The wheel of history turns forward and folk art is reborn. When Hu Xinming graduated from junior high school, it coincided with the rural reform, and farmers no longer had to listen to the ringing of the field for many years. Many families in the village picked up ancestral handicrafts and spent their spare time on clay sculptures. On the eve of Hu Xinming's graduation, a group of visiting French friends made a special trip to Shaanxi to see Fengxiang clay figurine. It turns out that their ancestors brought back a batch of exquisite Fengxiang clay sculptures from China more than 100 years ago, and invited future generations to visit the hometown of clay sculptures in China. As a new biography of Fengxiang clay sculpture, Hu Xinming participated in the demonstration of making clay figurines for foreign friends.
After that, he participated in the art creation training class held by the county cultural center, and his creative practice and theoretical training made him improve rapidly. His peasant painting Rehabilitation was also published in Shaanxi Daily, when he was only 14 years old. After returning to his hometown after graduation, he enthusiastically devoted himself to clay sculpture. The clay sculptures he made were lifelike and dexterous, which were deeply loved by everyone and soon became famous in Shili Baxiang. 1983 Fengxiang clay sculpture was selected by relevant parties and sent to Nanjing Art Institute for exhibition. Hu Xinming was not only selected for the work, but also invited to give a lecture on Fengxiang clay sculpture. He said that it was the first time he went to Yatang to stand on the podium and pull the board-I don't know what to say next. At that time, the biggest gain was to observe the folk art class offered by the college and learn the production technology of purple sand clay sculpture. Since then, his interest in studying art has become more intense.
1At the end of 983, Shaanxi Culture and Art Collection Group came to Fengxiang County, and famous artists such as Xiujun came. The county government held a party, and many parents of folk artists such as Shen Hu and Hu Xinming were invited to perform on the stage. Hu Xinming was also invited to give a live performance. 10 minutes, he made four small animals out of mud, panda, squirrel, pig and sheep, and won applause from the audience. Hu Xinming later recalled this experience and told reporters that his performance attracted the attention of experts in the province and played a very important role in his future development.
1985, Shaanxi provincial government held Shaanxi month in Minnesota, USA. Hu Xinming was selected by Shaanxi Province as one of the four members of the Shaanxi Folk Art Exchange Group in China. With more than 300 clay sculptures and 100 kilograms of clay in his suitcase, he flew to the other side of the ocean for the first time in his life as a friendly messenger, participated in Shaanxi Month and stopped in San Francisco and Sao Paulo 1655. During the 42 days in the United States, Hu Xinming's clay sculpture, micro-sculpture, paper-cutting and traditional Chinese painting earned more than 230,000 US dollars in foreign exchange for the country, and Hu Xinming received a subsidy of 500 US dollars. After returning home, he used the money to do many important things for his family. Hu Xinming worked tirelessly in the clay sculpture art park. 1986, his clay sculpture was invited to participate in the first national preschool education design competition and won the first prize. This is the first time that his clay sculpture has won a national prize, and he is deeply encouraged and more motivated. There are hundreds of clay sculptures designed and made by him, among which the largest reclining Buddha in Lingshan is as high as 10 meter, and the smallest zodiac is only the size of a fingernail. In recent years, he has produced more than 65,438+0,800 large clay sculptures over 2 meters.
One day in the late 1980s, eight Japanese friends came to Hu Xinming's house. They want several different styles of sheep clay sculptures. Hu Xinmin has never created anything like this before. See the guests leave, Hu Xinming said, you wait for half an hour, I can arrive! As a result, it only took him more than 20 minutes to make the shapes of five sheep in a row. Japanese guest forsythia thumb, full of praise, ordered more than 300 pieces at one time.
Unexpectedly, it was one of the mud sheep with a right head designed and made at that time. Because of its exaggerated and naive shape, it was later used as the main reference for the design of the zodiac stamps in 2003. After being reworked by experts, it was boarded as a national business card. Hu Xinming became the representative successor of a new generation of colored sculptures in Liu Ying. 65438-0994 was awarded the title of Shaanxi Folk Arts and Crafts Artist by the Provincial Department of Culture, the Provincial Federation of Literary and Art Circles and the Provincial Artists Association. He also became a member of China Folk Art Society and China Artists Association. He has been invited to give lectures and visit performances in Central Academy of Fine Arts, Nanjing Academy of Fine Arts, Xi Academy of Fine Arts, the United States, Japan and Hong Kong. His clay sculptures have been exhibited at home and abroad for many times, winning prizes and being collected by many museums and art galleries. His four works, such as Mud Tiger 1994, were rated as unique folk art in China by the Ministry of Culture. In 2002, Mud Horse won the gold medal in the first national tourism product design competition, and Mud Sheep was selected as the mascot of China Year of the Sheep by experts in the first national mascot collection and selection activity jointly organized by more than 50 news organizations.