Italian artist uses local materials: A story about color unfolding in Gansu, NW China

Upon arriving at the Bingling Temple Grottoes in northwest China's Gansu Province, Italian artist Matteo Montani was struck by the vivid hues of the red sandstone. He immediately began work on his art piece while making use of local materials.

Carved into caves along the Yellow River's northern bank in Yongjing county, Linxia Hui autonomous prefecture, the Bingling Temple Grottoes date back to the Western Qin Dynasty (385-431).

Two days later, at Pingshan Lake Grand Canyon in Zhangye, he looked out at the vast sea of red and smiled, "I really like this color so much—it has such a wonderful link with my home, Italy." He explained that this kind of red, known as Terra di Siena in Italian, comes from a city named Siena in the Italian region of Tuscany.