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Making
Preparing the Woman•Horse Exhibition draws on a good many aspects.
First of all there’s the actual creative and technical ability of the artist to devise the overall concept.
Then comes the fleshing out the idea and following every detailed phase of the artwork – creation, preparation, production and final presentation.
Along the way there are so many unforeseen obstacles to a smooth outcome, irrespective of the degree of careful planning from the outset.
In the case of Woman•Horse, technical solutions to these gremlins were developed only after and exhaustive searching and testing of materials, and firing procedures in order to achieve the result.
In the 10 ceramic sculptural works Nancy Ma completed in January 2014, she used earthenware paper clay, which is earthenware clay mixed with very fine paper in order to give a strong hold to form the shape. Paper would burn away from firing to leave the work a bite less heavy.
Nancy bisque-fired them up 1,000˚C, then under-glazed, hand painted and glazed again, and fired to between 1,080 and 1,100˚C.
She spent much valuable time and effort in experimentation before finally achieving the desired gold, silver and bronze metallic finishes for her horses.
This effort was essential in order to strengthen the narrative and better illustrate her messages, including how children are the most valuable of treasures and how the heavy physical burden on her shoulder added yet another dimension to her work.
This is Nancy Ma’s tactile interpretation of the essence of Woman. To the eye and touch the material is a construct of rugged, gleaming metal. Yet the truth is quite different. The appearance of strength and resilience is merely a façade. The thin layer of metallic gloss is for appearance only. It cannot protect the fragile ceramic it covers.
The external gloss and glamour conceals a soft, loving and dependent core.
Nancy works with her husband Alex in the installation of her work. Their teamwork has enabled each exhibition piece to appear free-standing on the plinth, reinforcing the essential impression of a Woman’s intrinsic power and strength while also displaying her fragile female nature and its need to be cared for, protected and nurtured.
Nancy has painted the foot of each Woman piece in the exhibition in black.
She chose this colour as it signifies the deep roots of Chinese tradition – an earthy reality that supports and nourishes, yet acts as a sea anchor to Woman’s forward progress. To the artist, the black of the soil on the feet truly serves to reflect the deep cultural bondage that plays such a pivotal role in the life of the Chinese Woman.
Other ceramic pieces incorporate Chinese flowers like peonies and plum blossoms; wood-block paintings remind us that Chinese tradition infuses the Chinese Woman’s being from inside to outside. These paintings also serve to remind us of the femininity and weakness of women.
Those blooming winter flower of peonies and plum blossoms which can stand the piercing cold signifying Chinese women’s tolerance – their virtue of enduring the social and family pressure and at the same time willing to do well within their role.
There are delicately beautiful butterflies fluttering across some of Nancy’s ceramic pieces. These butterflies represent the eternal hope of all underprivileged Women in the World – and it is Nancy’s wish that their aspirations for living a free and fulfilled Life will soon be realised.
