From the “Dialogue and Demolition” series, Zhang Dali went on to make portraits of migrant workers’ faces and resin casts of their heads or entire bodies in 2000.

By establishing his art studio on the outskirts of Beijing, Zhang became acquainted with a community of migrant workers living nearby.

Migrant workers have emerged as a product of the urbanization and growth of major Chinese cities.

Zhang said he wanted to bring migrant workers and their harsh lives to the attention of other people, and did so by creating head and body casts of volunteers from these people as well as painting their portraits in his “AK-47” series.

In those portraits, the anonymous but very individual faces are built up by the repetition of the mark, “AK-47,” which is internationally recognizable as a weapon of violence.

The artist’s sculptures, titled “Chinese Offspring,” are comprised of body casts that were made from migrant workers. They are shown hanging upside down from ropes tied around their ankles.

Zhang’s most recent creation is his installation titled “Wind/Horse/Flag.” In this new work he created last year, Zhang continued to use migrant workers as models.

    Different from his previous works that were made with materials such as plaster, fiberglass or pigskin jelly, the new installation is made with silicon, real human hair and real clothes to make human figures look like real people.