A Study Of The Creative Work Of The Chinese Women Sculptors

This thesis is a study of the patterns of the creative work of the Chinese women sculptors with school backgrounds. Based on site visits and interviews, artistic analysis of the works, and by putting the works in the bigger social and historical backgrounds, the study is composed with the following four chapters:Chapter One outlines the evolution of the artistic work of the women sculptors with school backgrounds in China, and reviews the evolving role of the ferninine awareness in these works. The creation path of women sculptors in China can be divided into the following three stages: realism, modernism and feminism at its primitive stage. In this process, the role of feminine awareness in the works has demonstrated two distinct features: Firstly, feminine feature shown in the works has evolved from subconscious expression, awakening to conscious celebration. Secondly, the evolution of the styles of the Chinese women sculptors did not feature a clear-cut collective transition, but rather on an individual bases in light of the specific historical period she was in.Chapter Two focuses on the feminine features of the works of the Chinese women sculptors. The feminine features of the works refer to the embodiment of both the physical and socio-cultural features of the female. Through comparative studies and sample analysis, the study has summarized embodiment of female feature in the works as the following three aspects: the female perspective(vision), the female perception(feeling), and the female expression(materials and techniques).Chapter Three focuses on how the women sculptors synthesize traditional sculpture techniques, folk arts and traditional Chinese art culture with the western sculpture techniques in which they were trained. Because of this synthesis, the works by the Chinese female sculptors always carries a tune of traditional Chinese arts.Chapter Four discusses how the women sculptors incorporate the influence of other forms of art into their work in a unique feminine way. The female artists interviewed in this study almost unanimously emphasized how arts of other formats had influenced their work. This chapter though touches upon the arts of literature, movies, music, dance, and painting, still centers on the study of art of sculpture. The unique feature of how the female sculptors express the influence of art of other forms is: Chinese women sculptors transfer the impression of other art form to their works.