Every time I met Mr. He E, a silver-haired sculpture artist, he was always drawing sketches, writing notes, or sculpting ......Although she is 87 years old this year, she still feels the vigorous vitality of artistic creation.
In February 2024, He E, an expert consultant of the China Sculpture Society and a senior librarian of the Gansu Provincial ** Culture and History Museum, was interviewed by China News Service and ** reporters. Photo by Li Yalong.
The author of the city sculpture of "Mother of the Yellow River" is He E, the first generation of female sculptors trained in New China, who has never stopped dealing with scaffolding, mud and stone for 70 years, and has created a piece of sculpture art. Recently, He E, an expert consultant of the China Sculpture Society, a senior librarian of the Gansu Provincial ** Museum of Culture and History, and the president of the Gansu He E Sculpture Institute, was interviewed by China News Service and ** reporters to tell her "sculpture life".
Curiosity and bravery".
I have been very fond of painting since I was a child, because my parents and Zhao Wangyun, the founding painter of the 'Chang'an School', were close friends. Mr. He E, whose ancestral home is Jinshan, Shanghai, and grew up in the northwest, said, "My relationship with art is an innate love."
At the beginning of 1952, affected by the economic situation of his family, He E, who was in middle school, dropped out of school and stayed at home for half a year. "At that time, my grandmother asked me to go to work at the bank where my father worked, and I didn't want to, and I resisted. Mr. He E recalled that although her grandmother was not optimistic about her hobby at that time, she still secretly decided in her heart that "she must draw well".
Half a year later, 15-year-old He E was admitted to the Sculpture Department of Northwest Academy of Arts, becoming the first woman in Northwest China to study sculpture, and began her own sculpture art path.
Talking about his love for painting and sculpture, He E concluded that it was because of his "curiosity and bravery". She said: "In the first year, I lay the foundation, and in the second year, when I was divided into majors, I saw that there were no female students studying sculpture in the first two classes, so I chose sculpture. It's just that what He E didn't expect at that time was that this choice would become her life's work.
Learning sculpture is a chore, and He E recalls that when he was a student, he often had to dig and smash mud ......But she didn't feel bitter, she said: "Because I'm young, I'm full of curiosity about everything, and I feel that everything is new." ”
After graduating from university in 1955, He E was assigned to teach in the Fine Arts Department of Lanzhou Academy of Arts. In 1962, Chang Shuhong, then director of the Dunhuang Institute of Cultural Relics and president of the Lanzhou Academy of Arts, selected several teachers from the school to work in the institute, and He E was one of them. "I thought I would go for four or five years, but I didn't expect to stay for 12 years, and these 12 years will become an important cornerstone of my artistic creation. He E said.
He E copied Dunhuang colored sculptures at the Dunhuang Cultural Relics Research Institute. (Data map) courtesy of He E Sculpture Institute.
I'm a lucky one".
Soon after arriving at the Dunhuang Cultural Relics Research Institute, He E was arranged to sculpt the red-faced king on the north side of the 194th cave niche in the Tang Dynasty. A few years later, when I went to sculpt the smiling face king on the south side of the cave, I found that the two kings had many differences: one had a collar bent inward, and the other bent outward; On the chest of the armor is a rope belt, and the other is a belt ......
Later, after careful comparison, I found that the two kings who were close at hand and had the same posture were actually 13 different! I was so excited that I felt like I was touching the heartbeat of an ancient craftsman. He E said that the statues of the Heavenly Kings, which are only two or three meters apart, have been created by ancient craftsmen through the creation of details, creating two images with completely different personalities.
During his 12 years of copying, researching, and edifying in Dunhuang, He E realized that the Chinese nation had a splendid civilization of more than 5,000 years, leaving behind thousands of legacies. "The heritage is full of 'codes', which is creation, and what I touch is just a drop of waves in the sea." He E said that she feels that she is a lucky person on the road of art.
In 1974, after He E returned to Lanzhou from Dunhuang, she expressed her reverence for the creative wisdom of the ancient nameless sculptors, and created the work "Giant", she respectfully engraved "dedicated to the creator of ancient excellent culture" on the back of the work, the work won the first prize of the 1979 Gansu Provincial Art Exhibition, and participated in the national art exhibition for the 30th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.
Creation is my life force".
In 1982, He E was transferred to Xi'an Film Studio to make Dunhuang colored sculpture props for the movie "Silk Road Flower Rain", and saw four works he copied in a picture album, which was specially launched to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Japan. He E said that at first she was very happy to see the signature of the work, but then she felt lost, she said: "I can copy it, and our children and future generations can do it." Even if we copy the works of the ancients very well, the light of this art will always belong to the ancients, not ours, and we should create the works of our time."
The work site of "Mother of the Yellow River". (Data map) courtesy of He E Sculpture Institute.
Since then, He E has devoted himself to the innovation of his works, and has been more in line with his inner touches in his creation. In 1984, she conceived "Children of the Yellow River" with her infinite love for the nation, a mother, a child, and a western man. He E said: "At that time, I only thought of the indissoluble bond between the Yellow River and the people of Gansu, and then I thought that we are the children of the Yellow River, our children are also the children of the Yellow River, and the mother is eternal. Immediately subtracted the western man and became the current "Mother of the Yellow River". ”
The mother symbolizes the Chinese nation, and the child borrowed a ** from the daughter's infancy, implying that the Chinese nation is endless, long-standing. He E said.
In 1984, after the completion of the design draft of "Mother of the Yellow River", he participated in the first national urban carving design exhibition held in Beijing, and the design draft was selected by Dalian City. He E immediately replied and declined, saying: "Lanzhou is my second hometown, and I wholeheartedly hope that it will be built on the Yellow River in Lanzhou." ”
In 1984, the work of "Mother of the Yellow River" won the "First National Urban Sculpture Design Award", in 1987, the city sculpture "Mother of the Yellow River" (granite) won the "Excellence Award" in the first national urban sculpture competition, and in 2009, the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, "Mother of the Yellow River" won the "New China Urban Sculpture Construction Achievement Award". Nowadays, the statue of "Mother of the Yellow River" has been well-known at home and abroad and has become a landmark in Lanzhou.
He E has always hoped to have a platform where he can better develop his creativity. In 1994, 57-year-old He E resigned as director of the Gansu Provincial Institute of Arts and Crafts and founded the Gansu He E Sculpture Institute. In the past 30 years, the He E Sculpture Institute has built more than 200 sculpture projects in 22 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions across the country, presenting the insights gained from the traditional culture of Dunhuang and the responsibility for the culture of the new era on the land of the motherland through sculpture works.
He E said: "A good urban sculpture can add points to the image of the city." In 2006, the "Genghis Khan Sculpture Group" was completed in Kangbashi District, Ordos City, consisting of five group sculptures, the original creator He E was responsible for the chief commander and artistic director of the project, and the works used 480 tons of copper and 6637 bottles of welding gas. In 2006, "Genghis Khan Sculpture Group" won the "National Urban Sculpture Competition Annual Award" and was known as "the miracle of sculpture in the new era".
Genghis Khan Sculpture Group" work site. (Data map) courtesy of He E Sculpture Institute.
The only thing I can dedicate to the Chinese nation is sculpture! Today, He E is still creating, and she still has a lot of artistic inspiration, and she says that creation is the source of her life.
For young people engaged in art, He E said: "Be full of enthusiasm. You have to love this era, love this society. Life is so beautiful, cherish it every minute and every second! Life is so beautiful, use it well bit by bit! ”
Wang Muyu.