Salt of the earth

Late sculptor Liu Shiming's work may seem a little unpolished to the untrained eye. But it perfectly reflects his roots and his subject matter, Lin Qi reports.

Late sculptor Liu Shiming left an oeuvre that may seem quite unrefined and rustic to those whose tastes are sophisticated and are perhaps used to seeing a lot of polished and perfect pieces.

He largely produced monochromatic pottery, a feature of which is the rough texture showing the traces and marks left by his hands. His works form panoramic scenes of people from different walks of life going about their business: performers of local operas gathering backstage, boatmen working on the rivers, and street vendors and cobblers at roadside stands, to name a few.

Liu formed a distinctive style of freezing the most inconspicuous moments of these people's day-today lives, presenting them from a distant, peaceful perspective. The viewer ultimately feels "a simple concern with these people and a mood of sincerity that Liu hid deep within his work", says art critic Shao Dazhen.

Liu's passion for playing with clay is obvious. He once said that he didn't have any idea what he was creating before he laid his fingers on the clay.