Interview by Rui Pastorin
Artists use a variety of mediums to bring their ideas and concepts to life. For “ANWA CLAY”, that medium is clay, using it to create works and award-winning claymations* (clay animation) featuring their distinct style.
What’s their story?
The four-person group was founded over three years ago on June 4, 2022 by chairman, main clay artist and claymation producer Lucy Sao Wa Iao and her daughter Angela En-Yu Lao, who is the claymation director, clay artist and sales director. The name “ANWA” stems from a mix of the two local artists’ names, that being “AN” from “Angela” and “WA” for “Sao Wa”, or “Wa” as friends and family call her.
Most clay works are crafted by Iao and painted by Lao, both self-described animation and anime fans who use their passion and own respective specialties to create works with a “unique cartoon style” featuring various types of cartoons and their own abstract styles, Lao told the Post during a recent online interview.
The team normally tackles projects about pets and children-themed works mainly comprising pets and their owners, zodiac figures, Macau scenery and miniatures. Their claymations, as well as their books, meanwhile, are “based on true stories between pets and owners, pets’ love stories and some educational stories for children”.
Telling their story, their original purpose is to allow people who don’t have pets to experience taking pictures with them in clay form, while giving pet owners the option of a custom clay portrait of their beloved animals, with the creation of clay pets and animation going back to before ANWA CLAY launched.
Lao had founded a licensed art and education company “Angels Sky” in Macau, which was originally a studio in 2007. “I was still a teen when it started. I ran my own learning centre, teaching kids art and English for a dozen years”, said Lao.
They attempted their first clay pet-related sale in 2019 under Angels Sky, proving popular with people ordering clay versions of their pets. They continued down this path, including the idea of creating clay versions of people’s pets that have passed away to keep memories alive, said Lao. “A friend was unsure about my idea”, Lao noted, as this type of customer might prove “too rare”. But they caught on and the first order under ANWA CLAY was made for a clay hedgehog, with the customer loving the result.
Now, three years since its founding, more than a thousand works have been made. “Within this short time, we created 1,500 clay works, took part in 36 markets and sold 1,374 works, including clay pets, clay dolls, claymations and clay-themed books”, according to Lao. Customers are from around the world, among which are, by ascending order of purchases, from the Chinese mainland, the UK, Macau, Hong Kong, Malaysia, the US, the Philippines, China’s Taiwan region, Thailand, Nepal and Poland, Lao said. “People love our products! Many fans collect dozens of our works! A fan collected a hundred pieces!”.
Behind the claymation
On the claymation front, a continuous and active endeavour, they use clay dolls, with the technique combining stop-motion, 2D, screen capture and, more recently, AI.
At the helm is Lao’s mother, who is also a former lecturer at the Macao Polytechnic University (MPU, formerly the Macao Polytechnic Institute) and the Macao University of Tourism (UTM, previously the Macao Institute for Tourism Studies), helping with voice acting, music composing and art directing. Lao, meanwhile, does voice acting, editing and music composing.
The team also comprises two other members, namely Claymation Voice Actor and Online Promoter Johan Karlberg, who, according to Lao, has been working in China for a long time as an actor and has participated in CCTV shows. Music artist and claymation editor Anson Chi On Leong rounds out the team, having performed for a dozen years.
The works produced have altogether received 20 awards. Among the prizes that they won this year are for their claymation “My Dream, Your Dream” at the 5th Reels International Film Festival, receiving best Children’s Film Special Jury Winner; and the Honourable Mention Award for the claymation “Never Fall in Love” at the Slamdance Film Festival, which is noted on its website as being a qualifying film festival for the Oscars and the BAFTA awards. In the same festival last year, the latter claymation was also part of the Official Selection, being among the other recognitions received that year.
Beyond that, Lao said that there are 160 more Angels Sky awards mainly in the animated film category.
The future
Looking ahead, Lao says that they hope to keep going and have several plans, first among which is to create Cantonese claymations aiming to promote the importance and understanding of Cantonese culture. A confirmed project set to start filming is a claymation titled “The Turtledove that Looks For Green Beans” (尋找綠豆的斑鳩) which, at its core, teaches kids that we can find happiness right where we are, without needing to move away. They have also published their first music book, “Animal Songs”, a piano note collection, and a series of music claymation videos they hope to make a series out of.
On top of that, they are hoping to join craft markets overseas. But right at home in Macau, the group will again be joining the Tap Siac Craft Market in Autumn for its second week that runs from tomorrow through Sunday, continuing to share their creations.
*Claymation is a stop-motion animation technique where figures made out of clay are photographed one frame at a time to create the illusion of movement. The term is derived from “clay” and “animation.” It’s commonly associated with animated films or shorts created using this method. – Poe
Angela En-Yu Lao (front) poses with her mother Lucy Sao Wa Iao (centre) and ANWA CLAY members Johan Karlberg (right) and Anson Chi On Leong. - Photos recently taken and provided by Lao
