PANG WENZHONG(1951 – )
Pang Wengzhong, bo rn i n 1951 and a native of Shiwan, Guangdong Province, is a ‘Master of Guangdong Arts and Crafts’. He studied in the oil painting training course in Foshan City and graduated from the Sculpture Department of the Guangdong Arts and Crafts School in 1977. He worked at the Shiwan Artistic Ceramics Factory, where he also oversaw the Creative Resource Room. Following the old artistic tenet ‘learning from the ancient artists while striving for progress’, he studied ancient art pieces to understand their different mouldings of a same theme, as well as the different treatments of clothing textures and glazed colours. He aimed to grasp the ancient masters’ supreme artistry and incorporate it into his own creative references.
Pan’s works focus on ancient characters, immortals, Buddhas, and Arhats, characterised by sturdy, accurate, lively, and vivid design. They are creative in theme, content , character modelling, technique, and skill. He was commissioned by the Macao Museum to create sculptures of Portuguese poets Luis de Camoes and Camilo Pessanha. He was also in charge of the creation of the representat ive ridge decoration of the Potter Deity Temple of Shiwan – ‘The Meeting of Heroes’ – the largest and longest figure-ridge in the world, opening a path to imitate the craft of Qing dynasty tile sculpture and making an important contribution to the creative innovation of Shiwan ceramics.