Zhao Kai is famous for his exquisite bronze sculptures which are then beautifully hand painted with enamel paint. Getting to this polished finish takes considerable time and skill and we're delighted to give a brief glimpse into some of the steps below.
The initial step involves sketching his ideas, but once Zhao Kai has determined a path forward for a particular work he would then create a small version of the idea as a proof of concept. After he has created and proven his concept at a small scale he will then begin creating a larger variant that would become the work that would reach the market. You can see an example of the small initial proof of concept as he works on the larger clay sculpture for the work that would become known as Floating Cloud - Joy II.
Heres another great example of Zhao Kai working on the original clay sculpture for the work that would eventually be titled Pure.
Here is a close-up of the intricate sculpting work that goes into creating one of the birds that often adorn various sculptures created by Zhao Kai.
These larger creations made from the small proof of concepts will eventually be made into bronze sculptures, which are then individually hand painted as a edition of 8 works. Once all 8 pieces in the edition are fully sold, no more would be made. There is certain circumstances where artists like Zhao Kai will also take on special projects that we often would refer to as monumental sculptures.
These may or may not be created as separate editions, but below is an excellent example of this. Floating Cloud - Leopard which is available as an edition of 8 and is sized at 82 x 46 x 45cm was commissioned for a hotel project at 180 x 76 x 105cm as pictured below. This type of project is great exposure for the artist as it enables the opportunity to place monumental sized sculptures in public places.
Below you can connect the work in progress images with some of the finished works themselves.
Floating Cloud - Joy II
Pure - Zhao Kai
