TINY TIME: Artist Creates Stunning Miniature Sculptures Of Childhood Homes

A skilled sculptor from eastern China has revealed the healing powers of his art by creating miniature sculptures of people’s beloved childhood homes.

Sculptor Li Yizhong, who comes from the province of Jinan, is able to recreate entire hometowns with his fingertips just from people’s memories.

The artist has always been interested in sculpting, and fell in love with it at a very young age after being heavily influenced by his older brother, local media said.

After graduating as a sculpture major in 2010, he and his classmates rented an old railway station and started their business.

At first, Li said he was interested in making a big profit out of his art.

But In 2015, after friends saw some very realistic miniature sculptures he had made for an exhibition, they asked him to make one of an old house that was demolished some time ago.

With the help of only a few photos, Li was able to restore the old house in great detail.

He was touched when he saw the friend’s tears of joy and thought there might be more than just making money out of art, as he told local media.

Li has been doing miniature works ever since, using realistic techniques to model the designs, often relying on just clients’ words and memories.

Every plant, tree, and house in the miniature sculptures are all handmade, and each model takes several weeks to complete.

Today, nearly 10 miniature sculptures of Li Yizhong’s restoration of the old house have been produced.

The production cycle of a single piece of work is about one month, and the price of each is around CNY 10,000 (GBP 1,170).

“Some customers cried bitterly when they called to talk about their demands. I wanted to make it for free,” Li Yizhong said.

He said that ten years of commercialized sculpture production made him lose the emotion of a craftsman.

Picture shows Li Yizhong’s miniature sculpture of old house in Jinan, China, undated. His studio displays miniature old houses from different regions and different ages. (diaosu8/AsiaWire)

But now he focuses on restoring the miniature sculptures of old houses, and with that, he has regained his passion.