Hshieh Yuan Zhang’s dough figurine story

Hshieh Yuan-zhang (謝源張) is a leading dough figurine sculptor in Taiwan. By combining modern and traditional materials and integrating various painting techniques from oil painting and Chinese painting, Hshieh has managed to breathe new life into this traditional craft industry. That said, with so few young people involved, dough figurine sculpting still faces an existential crisis.

In fact, after applying colored pigments to dough figurines, they resemble clay or bronze sculptures and are works of art in their own right. Hshieh believes only a systematic approach extending long into the future can keep this art alive and therefore hopes that the public sector will begin paying more attention to promoting the art rather than merely issuing certifications.

以下為中文對照

米雕是一般人所熟知的「捏麵人」，米雕技藝保存者謝源張為推廣米雕，除了改良材料，作品更結合自己善長的油畫、國畫等繪畫技法，讓米雕顛覆過往小型工藝品的印象，躍升成大型「藝術品」；然而，這項充滿傳統味的技藝正面臨失去年輕人繼續傳下去的困境。

米雕其實也可以是一個藝術品，經過顏料塗色後，可以變成看起來像是陶土做的「仿陶」，以及看似像銅雕的「仿銅」。但傳承並不是好玩而已，必須要有系統的、有個時間軸一直延遞下去；所以謝源張希望公部門能多加重視推廣，而非僅是頒發認證而已。