Nick Renshaw - Visual Artist

To coincide with the opening of the new British Centre in the IFC Tower in Guangzhou, part of the new body of work conceived in the south of China has been presented. This series of sculptures, entitled 'Tong An' are made in large part using red clay and are the result of an extended process of modelling, casting, press-molding and ultimately firing. The firing is done in a so-called dragon kiln, utilising a technique of wood firing by which much of the ceramic production throughout China was created during previous periods in history. The title of the series alludes to both the historic area in China where this work is made, Tong An being the name of a much older city now part of modern day Xiamen in Fujian Province. Tong An refers also to an aspiration of 'shared contentment', its meaning being translated as 'staying peacefully together'. Though these works are created against the backdrop of a wider contemporary context, the actual process of manufacture can be understood as being the same as that used to produce many ancient ceramic sculptures in China. The most familiar example being the terracotta funerary warriors buried with Emperor Qin Shi Huang in his mausoleum near Xi'an in Shaanxi Province.
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