[Commentary] "Nostalgia is a shallow strait, I'm on this side, the mainland is on the other side..." Recently, overseas Chinese youth Chen Chen completed a creative mask carrying nostalgia on both sides of the strait, and began to invest in the creation of masks with other cultural elements .
[Concurrent] Chen Chen, an overseas Chinese youth
The first batch of "hometown Henan" masks we made were delivered to Uruguay and Cambodia through our official channels and the response was very good.
There will be a lot of activities (party) calling us to make him some more custom masks similar to culture, so I think this is a particularly good start and try.
[Explanation] Changyuan, Henan is a well-known "Hometown of Eisai" in China, and Chen Chen was born here.
Under the new crown pneumonia epidemic, he graduated from a famous Italian art school and did not stop his artistic creation. He used his creativity to interweave Chinese culture and Western art on a small mask.
[Commentary] Chen Chen has studied art since childhood. In 2011, he went to Italy to study oil painting as a graduate student, which gave him a deeper understanding of Chinese culture.
[Concurrent] Chen Chen, an overseas Chinese youth
When we first arrived abroad, we did a lot of artistic creations, but our tutors didn’t really support us in learning about other people’s things. We drew a lot of things, and there were a lot of Western shadows.
He just said that you have to find something in your own cultural roots.
[Explanation] Two years ago, affected by the new crown pneumonia epidemic, Chen Chen's cultural projects in Italy were shelved. He and his wife simply stayed in their hometown to help their father manage the business, but he did not stop the pace of artistic creation.
From "Hometown Henan", "Intangible Cultural Heritage Nv's Book", to "cross-strait nostalgia" and "gentleman culture", he combined words, urban humanities, and intangible cultural heritage symbols, silently "drawing" traditional Chinese culture.
[Explanation] Chen Chen introduced that the "Hometown Henan" series of masks are designed to incorporate the text and graphics of "Zhaizi China" and "Oracle Bone Inscriptions".
The idea of "Zhaizi China" comes from the inscription on He Zun, a national treasure of the Western Zhou Dynasty. It is the first time the word "China" appeared in the literature. This design element is intended to show the origin of the written records of "China".
[Concurrent] Chen Chen, an overseas Chinese youth
We use "Oracle Bone Inscriptions" to express that Anyang, Henan is the hometown of Oracle Bone Inscriptions, and "Zhaizi China" tells the embodiment and existence of our earliest character "China".
[Explanation] These designs are mostly from Chen Chen's fragmented time.
[Concurrent] Chen Chen, an overseas Chinese youth
I went to Ningbo on a business trip, and I was stuck there for more than 6 hours, then I was in the (RV), and then I painted various types of layouts.
I designed 3 first drafts, Chinese Nvshu, One Family on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, and a series of masks including Gentleman Culture.
[Commentary] Living overseas for many years has made Chen Chen's understanding of nostalgia deepen.
Art and nostalgia are the resonance between Chen Chen and an old Chinese Taiwan graffiti "Grandpa Rainbow".
[Concurrent] Chen Chen, an overseas Chinese youth
"Grandpa Rainbow" had already gone to Taiwan (China) when he was in his 20s, and he never came back (since then). Because he missed his homeland and his hometown, he painted the whole village with the same colors he had used for folk customs when he was a child.
(I) printed it directly on the mask (on) in the form of an image, which can interpret the nostalgia in the most real way.
[Commentary] Chen Chen introduced that when he was in Italy, he often saw traditional Chinese culture such as Kung Fu, Tai Chi, and calligraphy, which attracted many foreigners to imitate and learn.
In the post-epidemic era, masks are a good communication medium.
[Concurrent] Chen Chen, an overseas Chinese youth
Everyone is wearing a mask, and then we came up with some new ideas, let our mask remove the commodity attributes, we want it to have some cultural characteristics, so that we can bring cultural confidence, and then be able to tell Some of our own stories, to shine as a cultural calling card.
[Explanation] At present, Chen Chen has invested hundreds of thousands of yuan in cultural and creative masks.
He did not put these masks into the market, but only donated them to cultural exchange activities at home and abroad, cross-strait, etc.
Following the cultural series of masks, he also started the research and development of traditional Chinese medicine masks and the creation of cultural masks in urban areas.
Reporter Li Chaoqing and Kan Li reported from Changyuan, Henan
Responsible editor: [Ye Pan]