Finding the Women in the Bronze
- Abby
- Apr 14
- 4 min read
The first thing that comes to mind with bronze sculptures is usually some form of a historical statue to remember and honor a specific person. On occasion there will be bronze sculptures in parks that aren’t associated with a historical figure. However, Luo Li Rong finds the women within the bronze and brings them to light.
Luo Li Rong is a Chinese sculptor who creates “…women captured mid-movement, with windswept garments and flowing hair that suggest a narrative frozen in time” (Ness). All these elements in her sculptures create very dynamic, interesting, and meaningful pieces. Luo has been making work since 2005, has resided in Europe since 2006, and has had exhibitions and work displayed in the Horus Gallery in Belgium and in the Galerie Mickael Marciano in Paris. She also created a sculpture for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. She has many beautiful sculptures although my two favorites were The Source and Ballerina, both of which are in the Horus Gallery. She does sell to the collector market as well, although these are smaller than her near life-size-to-life-size sculptures (Sandu).
I particularly enjoy her sculpture, The Source, because in contrast to her other work this one uses more color, and I love the various shades of blue with the golden highlight. The use of negative space in this sculpture really caught my eye, as most of her lower body is missing, only her feet remain. The jagged looking edges that are left in the negative space imply some form of skirt or fabric blowing around her as it looks like she herself is being blown away. This piece is also rather balanced between the negative space and the positive space.
There is even more balance in the hard and soft lines in that lower half that creates a very organic feel, which seems like it shouldn’t work. When trying to create something organic I go to use softer and rounder lines, but Rong was able to convey it with a balance hard and soft. The gradient used with the blue really draws the eye across the sculpture, from top to bottom.
As a costume designer I am very impressed by her ability to sculpt moving fabric. This is well demonstrated in her piece Ballerina. Everything about the way the fabric clings to the body and how it moves in any number of her sculptures is incredibly life-like. I can tell rather easily that the Ballerina’s outfit is made of a light-weight fabric by the way Rong has sculpted it. The line-work is very soft and precise. The contrast between the bronze color of the woman and the white of her outfit makes it so you can’t look at one without the other. Even if your eyes only follow the lines of the fabric, it still brings you back to the Ballerina herself. With the fabric rising to the height of the Ballerina’s torso, it creates an open form at the top, it is an almost bowl-like shape. This leaves the ballerina’s legs on full display rather than covering them. The skirt rising towards the arms also brings the viewers’ attention to the arms and the gracefulness within them and how soft they are. It is an incredibly dynamic piece, and this is what she is known for.
What makes her work feel so significant is how she can bring so much movement into her work. I think this is because during her time at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing she studied Renaissance and Baroque sculpting intensely, “Her thesis focused on figurative sculpture techniques used by European artists during the Renaissance and Baroque periods” (Sandu). The movement in her work reflects this training, it stuck out to me with the golden accents in The Source it had reminded me of all of the use of gold in the Baroque period. She had studied under Sun Jiabo and Lu Pinchang while she was at the Central Academy.
Her work also depicts primarily women in movement with some kind of transparent fabric element to them. “Through her art, Luo Li Rong reminds us of the enduring power of beauty and the intricate connection between humanity and the divine” (Ness). She has other sculptures that portray a more ethereal or divine nature such as Évanescence. It depicts what looks like smoke, rolling off of this woman’s body into the air while she seems to be floating just off the ground. Personally, I love artwork that portrays themes like this, as it is hard to find in real life when you’re not looking for it.
To create these sculptures, she goes through quite the process, starting with clay. Sandu explains that for bronze casting her work she uses the “traditional lost wax method, which allows for extremely fine detail reproduction.” While she uses bronze, she applies white to specific areas in her sculptures to represent fabric and add to the illusion of transparency. I think that this is a very nice touch and works incredibly well. On occasion she also “…works with Daum crystal for limited edition pieces” (Sandu).
Rong’s work looks like snapshots of an active moment, and I think that is what I find most beautiful about them. They are “…embodying the harmonious balance of grace and strength” (Ness) and “The women are sensual without being objectified, powerful without being aggressive” (Sandu). I think this holds a lot of meaning because in a way it adds almost a mysterious quality to them. We don’t have the context for the moment they are in, but what we are shown every movement portrayed is intentional.
Luo Li Rong is quite a talented artist, and every single sculpture she does is captivating. They are always frozen in movement and time. She pulls the women from the bronze and brings them center stage for all to admire.
Sources
“Luo Li Rong | Ballerina (2021) | Available for Sale | Artsy.” Artsy, www.artsy.net/artwork/luo-li-rong-ballerina. Accessed 15 Apr. 2026.
“Luo Li Rong | The Source (2026) | Available for Sale | Artsy.” Artsy, www.artsy.net/artwork/luo-li-rong-the-source. Accessed 14 Apr. 2026.
“Luo Li Rong | Évanescence (2019) | Available for Sale | Artsy.” Artsy, www.artsy.net/artwork/luo-li-rong-evanescence. Accessed 14 Apr. 2026.
Ness, Emma. “Luo Li Rong: Sculpting the Essence of Grace and Eternity.” Artmag, 4 Dec. 2024, artmag.org/luo-li-rong-sculpting-the-essence-of-grace-and-eternity/.
Sandu, Bogdan. “Luo Li Rong: Sculpting Grace in Motion.” Russell Collection, 25 Jan. 2026, russell-collection.com/luo-li-rong/.
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