Terracotta Daughters, a work in progress

After a research trip in June, and two trips in September and November to sculpt intensively, I'll head back for China.

I'm currently working on a large scale project with craftsmen from a terracotta factory in Xi'an, in Shaanxi province.

Here are few images of the process. I sculpted 8 original sculptures in clay I called the Terracotta Daughters, all based on 8 Chinese girls models that I met in September through an NGO. Now, from the combination of the 8 molds made from my sculptures, the craftsmen will work on 108 sculptures. Then, they will retouch the faces to make them all unique.

This new "army" is inspired by the Chinese army of the Terracotta Soldiers. The archeological site is few minutes away from the craftsmen's factory where I work. These craftsmen are specialized into copies of the ancient warriors, using the same clay they were made of and the same ancestral techniques i learned.

More to come !