Скачать или смотреть Chang’E Moon Goddess Sculpture by KeltonFX

Chang’E (嫦娥）Goddess of the Moon

2021

Super Sculpey, Armature Wire, Cosclay, Beads, UV resin, Acrylic Paints, Clear Resin, Iridescent Inks, Glitter, Airbrush paints, 3D Printed Moon lamp

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After 2.5 months, I’ve finally finished my Chang’E piece. This was the first time I decided to try sculpting everything from scratch unlike the usual doll customs I’ve been working on. This was definitely a huge challenge for me and took me out of my comfort zone because I had to relearn how to work with polymer clays and clear/UV resin can be very unforgiving as a medium. Overall I’m extremely pleased with how the piece turned out and I absolutely loved what I was able to do with it. I know in future I’ll just get better with each new project I work on and as much as I love doll customs, I’ve been really into full diorama pieces because I love that all the elements come together and present a visual narrative to the viewer.

For those unfamiliar with Chang’E, she’s the Moon Goddess in Chinese mythology and there are several variations to her story. The one I grew up on as a kid, she was married to Hou Yi （后羿）an archer who shot down 9 of the 10 suns that were scorching the earth. In honor of his heroic deed, the goddess Xiwangmu (西王母) gave him an elixir of immortality, a prize typically reserved for immortals who had achieved enlightenment.

Unfortunately the elixir was only enough for one person and Hou Yi didn’t want to live forever without his wife so he hid it. Chang’E found the elixir and in her selfishness, drank it all and ascended to the moon. She would live forever on the moon with a rabbit as her only companion.

The final piece went through quite a few changes from my original concept sketch but in essence I think it captured a lot of what I had envisioned. I wanted it to have a lot of movement in the fabric and for the water effects to feel quite serene. There are definitely quite a few surreal elements to the piece - like Chang’E’s body transitioning into the waterfall and the clouds which were inspired by traditional Chinese ink paintings. Her makeup, hair and accessories are Tang inspired (obviously my favorite period of Chinese clothing) and she’s holding a gourd which contains the elixir of immortality.

Growing up on Chinese myths and being able to put that into my artwork as an adult has really helped me connect with my inner child and it reminds me of the times my family would gather at my grandmother’s during the Mid Autumn festival and have tea and mooncakes and gaze at the moon. My mom would always try and point out Chang’E and the rabbit in the moon and I’d be like - ‘Um, I don’t see what you’re seeing.’ 🤷‍♂️🤣