China News Service, Hangzhou, August 21 (Reporter Tong Xiaoyu) When talking about the verse "I want to be higher than the test of God", what picture will come to mind?
Is it a person standing on the top of a mountain looking into the distance, or an eagle soaring?
Chinese arts and crafts master Xu Weijun carved a new bamboo shoot from an old bamboo root on a piece of Qingtian dragon egg.
This seems to have nothing to do with poetry, but in his opinion, it is the embodiment of bamboo's tenacity and vitality, and its arrogance of "desiring to compare with the god of heaven".
"This is also the 'soul' of the work."
exhibition site.
Photo by Tong Xiaoyu
On August 21, the "Gift to the Life of the 20 Great Stone Refining Artists - Exhibition of Works of Xu Weijun and Qingtian County Stone Carving Factory" opened in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, with 100 themed stone carving works on display.
Among them, many works "restore" the "famous scenes" in the poems.
Qingtian stone carving is a traditional stone carving art using Qingtian stone as material. It is named after the high-quality pyrophyllite produced in Qingtian County, Zhejiang Province.
In 2006, Qingtian stone carving was selected into the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage lists; in 2018, Qingtian stone carving was selected into the first batch of national traditional craft revitalization catalogues.
exhibition site.
Photo by Tong Xiaoyu
As the academic host of the exhibition, Hang Jian, chairman of Zhejiang Folk Artists Association, said that this exhibition is not only a concentrated display of Xu Weijun's stone carving art, but also a collective appearance of Qingtian stone carving art.
The exhibition is divided into seven chapters: Great Country, Origin, Character, Context, Life, Youth, and Dream. The themes of stone carvings involve flowers and birds, figures, landscapes, historical events, legends and stories.
Some works extracted the content of the poems and carved them with precision.
At the exhibition site, the audience is watching the exhibition.
Photo by Tong Xiaoyu
Qingtian stone carving pays attention to "applying skills according to aptitude and selecting beauty according to color".
Xu Weijun's works "Wish to compare the heights with the God of Heaven", "Flying Streams Down Three Thousand Feet", "The Yellow River Far Above the White Clouds", "Frost Leaves Red in February Flowers", etc., all use the color and characteristics of stones to create works.
For example, the new bamboo shoots are carved in "Yu and Tiangong's Test of Highness".
Through the cracks in the dark brown, hollow old bamboo shells, you can see that the new spring bamboo shoots are taking shape, standing tall.
In Xu Weijun's view, although bamboo shoots have not yet formed a bamboo shoot, they already have a clear and tenacious figure.
When talking about the idea, he said that because his hometown, Lishui, has many mountains, there are many bamboos under the mountains, and there are bamboo seas everywhere.
He is familiar with mountains and bamboo, and is also familiar with the appearance and character of bamboo.
"It can grow on the hillside, grow on the rocks, stubborn and tenacious. It has the loneliness and persistence of 'people in the deep forest don't know, the bright moon will take pictures'."
He mentioned that although some stone carvings are finely carved, they have no "soul", and it is a commodity at a glance.
But some stone carvings are creative and artistic.
Art is to make people think, to think about the invisible.
Stone sculpture "A Blockbuster".
Photo by Tong Xiaoyu
It is precisely because of these ideas that when creating "Flying Streams Down Three Thousand Feet", Xu Weijun did not directly carve a waterfall on the top of the rock, but let the waterfall descend vertically from a pine forest and "path" down a pine forest. Then flow around to create the majestic momentum of the waterfall.
The reporter saw that the whole work is vivid.
Xu Weijun also specially preserved the rough surface of the original stone, depicting the rugged state of the cliffs.
Among the Qingtian stone carving techniques, openwork carving is the most distinctive and the most difficult to master.
The maple leaves in the work "Frost Leaves Red in February Flowers" are layered on top of each other, and the density between the leaves is just right.
"The key to the development of Qingtian stone carving lies in the pursuit of culture and the breakthrough of concepts, followed by the transformation of materials and techniques." Xu Weijun said that in the future, he will continue to take "creative transformation and innovative development" as the guide to show the essence of traditional craftsmanship and the beauty of Chinese culture.
A stone sculpture at the exhibition site attracted the audience to take pictures.
Photo by Tong Xiaoyu
It is reported that the exhibition will be held at the Zhejiang Exhibition Center and will last until August 28.
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