Red terracotta sculpture

30 × 25 × 18 cm. 11 3/4 × 9 7/8 × 7 1/8 in.

Signed in English and dated on the back

LITERATURE
2016, Chao's Ceramic Sculpture, Lostgens Contemporary Artspace, Kuala Lumpur, p.52-53
EXHIBITED
10 – 31 Jul 2016, THE CONQUERING- Chapter Clay, Oriental Art & Cultural Association, Kuala Lumpur

PROVENANCE
Acquired directly by present private Asian collector form the artist

A Touching Gaze that Sees through the Body
Chao Harn Kae's Spirited Ceramic Work Merging Human and Animal

Born in Malaysia in 1975, Chao Harn Kae's deep connection with nature from an early age inspired his art. In 1994, with excellent academic results, he received a scholarship from the Malaysian Institute of Art to study oil painting. In 2004, he received an invitation from Hong Kong Disneyland to create a large-scale public sculpture. He also participated in projects for several well-known amusement parks and commercial organisations worldwide, but the dream of making his own art remained. Since 2013, he has been producing anthropomorphic sculptures that combine animal and plant forms. These works have a fairytale-like quality in their simple and innocent looks. Their gazes, expressing softness and serenity under strange appearances, seem to have the power to penetrate all barriers and reach into people's hearts. In 2015, Chao was shortlisted for the New Art Wave International Artist Award. His works have been shown in Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Macau, and St. Petersburg and are in the collection of the Hong Kong Museum of Art. Rabbit, completed in 2013, is one of his proudest works and representative of the sculptural works he began to make as an independent artist. It was also featured on the poster for his 2016 solo exhibition in Kuala Lumpur, a testament to its weight in the artist's heart.

Rabbit merges human facial features and physique with playfully raised rabbit ears. The rabbit's lips are pursed downwards in a smile while his slightly shut eyes and look to the right as if he is listening intently to a beautiful musical note or engaging in deep contemplation. The unglazed red terracotta used for the sculpture deliberately retains the traces and warmth of the fingers that kneaded it. Chao used a carving knife to patiently scratch delicate lines onto the surface, evoking the fluffy texture of the rabbit's fur. While the pure, red terracotta work emerged from the fusion of water, earth, fire and other basic substances in nature, the soul that it carries is unique. Through sculpture, Chao returns to the embrace of nature, retaining innocence and naivety and calling out to a sincere heart in a world full of uncertainty.

Price estimate:
HKD: 15,000 - 20,000
USD: 1,900 - 2,600

Auction Result:
HKD: 45,600