Sui Jianguo (), professor and ex-chairman of the Department of Sculpture in Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing, is a contemporary Chinese artist. Biography Sui was born in Qingdao, China in 1956. Both of his parents were factory workers and were largely absent during his early childhood due to the workload imposed on them by the Mao government. Growing up, Sui witnessed the harsh realities of the Mao years. During this time Maoist socialist realism became the approved art style. This style generally portrayed Maoist ideals in a romantic positive light. These images were used to create a cult of personality for Mao. At the age of ten, schools were closed as part of the Cultural Revolution, and Sui began to work in the factories with his parents. In an interview he stated that he was “transfixed in the age of Mao worship, when Mao was virtually a God at home”. Painting was not a career option for Sui until the age of eighteen when he broke his arm, which took him away from factory work. According to Sui, during this period he contemplated his “spiritual” life and what he wanted to do with his future. Soon after, and with the permission and guidance of his father, he began studying painting at night under the cover of darkness. Upon his return to the factory Sui painted propaganda posters of Mao in the socialist realist fashion. His studies and practice gave fruit to his first true work: a traditional Chinese landscape painting, which he completed in 1976 after the death of Mao. After his death, the Chinese government loosened its grip on the population, and educational reforms were quick to follow. Sui took advantage of the new freedoms, and moved to Jinan and then Shandong, where he received his major in sculpture. A few years later he earned his master's degree in Arts at the central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing. According to Sui, by the time he had enrolled in college, he had decided he wanted to do sculpture, inspired by his years in the factories, where people would tell him he had “skill in using his hands”. After gaining his master's degree, Sui travelled to the Netherlands, Australia, Japan, and other places to display his art. He also worked as a guest professor or speaker at several universities outside of China. Finally, Sui returned to become chairman