China News Service, Zhengzhou, July 27th: Obsessed for 11 years!
"Post-80s" artist guards 60,000 leaves to carve sentient beings
Author Kan Li
"There are 200 leaves picked and collected, but maybe only 4 or 5 can be carved!" During the conversation, Li Hao did not stop the engraving pen in his hand. On a small leaf, a lifelike character image was about to be completed.
In a courtyard in Xiaoqiao Hutong, Pingqiao District, Xinyang City, southern Henan, all kinds of leaf carvings created by Li Hao are displayed here, which are particularly eye-catching.
These delicate leaf carvings stand in stark contrast to Li Hao, who is a tough guy with a beard.
As the intangible inheritor of Xinyang City, he has collected more than 60,000 leaves and completed hundreds of leaf carvings including portraits and documentary scenes.
"Jinci is the birthplace of Ye Diao." Li Hao became attached to Ye Diao 11 years ago.
By chance, Li Hao came into contact with leaf carving at Jinci Temple in Shanxi, and then began to collect various books and materials and explore leaf carving craftsmanship.
"If a worker wants to do a good job, he must first sharpen his tools." Li Hao, who has a certain art skills, knows the importance of leaves to good leaf carving works. "I spent three years at home studying boiled leaves."
The picture shows Li Hao's hand-painted sketch of Xiaoqiao Hutong for Ye Diao.
Kan Lishe
After trial and error, Li Hao basically mastered all the leaf boiling techniques suitable for carving leaves.
He told reporters that most of the traditional carving techniques he had come into contact with could only be created on sycamore leaves. "After I innovated it, I broadened the creative carrier and can create on more leaves such as sycamore leaves, magnolia leaves, osmanthus leaves and maple leaves. ."
Selecting leaves, steaming, boiling water, beating and pressing... After complicated procedures, painting, carving and other techniques are used to finally create leaf carvings as thin as cicada wings.
"The leaf is yellow but not brittle, and the tendons are bent and continuous." While speaking, Li Hao picked up a piece of leaf carving and kneaded it in his hand. After stretching it, the leaf carving was still intact.
In terms of carving skills, Li Hao does not stick to traditional techniques.
He told reporters that the traditional technique is to first make a template of the content to be engraved, and then stick the leaves on the template and put them in water to carve.
In pursuit of beauty, Li Hao did not use templates to engrave his works, but created them directly on leaves with brushes and engraving pens.
As a result, the difficulty of carving is great and the rework rate is high.
The ultimate in art is Li Hao's pursuit.
For a long time, leaf carvings are mostly presented as single works.
Li Hao broadened his thinking, and based on the "Eighteen Arhats", he carved the image of each Arhat on the leaves to form a nearly 9-meter-long scroll.
In daily life, Li Hao also likes to collect scenery and photography, and the photos he takes casually are the blueprint for his creation of leaf carvings.
In addition, his creative inspiration also comes from some traditional buildings, as well as local attractions and historic sites in Xinyang.
The picture shows the corner of Xiaoqiao Hutong in Pingqiao District, Xinyang.
Kan Lishe
Xiaoqiao Hutong, where Li Hao is located, is also a bonanza of his creations.
In recent years, after upgrading and renovation, a strong hutong culture has been formed here.
By exploring the potential of cultivating business formats, the local government has attracted a large number of traditional entertainers like Li Hao to settle down in the hutong.
Here, art masters such as pottery, palm weaving, root carving, and rock painting have their own courtyards, and each courtyard is an art studio. Talking about the collision between tradition and fashion is their leisure life.
Walking to the hutong, five steps, one scene, ten steps, one painting.
The quaint and quiet courtyards, the small and small landscapes of the flowing water, and the fireworks of the alleys that come and go are all vivid and vivid in Li Hao's sculptures.
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