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East meets West in paper cuts
By Xu Wenwen |
April 15, 2010, Thursday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
THE art of paper cutting is practiced worldwide, reflecting different cultures, and an unusual paper-cut art exhibit this month features not only Chinese but also elaborate and very different Swiss paper-cuts.
The exhibition of around 150 works, "The Art of Paper Cutting, East Meets West," runs through next Tuesday at the Xiangshan Campus of the China Academy of Art.
It is organized together with the Haus Appenzell Cultural Foundation of Zurich.
Many Chinese visitors, who are familiar with Chinese paper-cutting art, have been astounded by the superb, intricate, textured, multidimensional and multicolored Swiss artworks.
Spectacular Chinese paper cuts on display transcend the traditional red chuang hua or "window flower" cuts that were shaped to fit inside windows and decorate them for holidays.
One highlight of the show is a 6-meter-long work by Hua Yuexiu, who once worked in Switzerland. It tells a story about how people from northern China's Shanxi Province celebrate the Chinese New Year.
While Chinese paper cuts are overwhelmingly fashioned in auspicious red, the exhibited artworks also include greens, blues and other colors.
What was originally a highly symbolic traditional folk art has developed a wider aesthetic appeal, while retaining its symbolism.
Hua exhibits works she created in Switzerland. A series of four works tells a love story using deep-blue and light-blue paper to express pure feeling and the natural beauty of the Swiss landscape.
"I insist on the original ideas and symbols of Chinese paper cutting," says Hua. "But we can adopt versatile Western ways of creating art."
Bruno Weber, one of Switzerland's distinguished paper-cutting artists, attended the exhibition and paid tribute to Chinese inspiration for his work.
"My artworks have been influenced by Chinese artworks," says Weber, "especially the symbolic traditional elements, which can also be seen in my creations, but they are definitely not the same."
When Chinese paper-cutting artists create works in Switzerland, "they grasp some simple things to symbolize life's meaning, things that we had thought trivial and already forgotten," says Ernst Hohl, president of the Haus Appenzell Cultural Foundation. "And these simple things are the roots of paper-cutting art."
"To merge features of other cultures is a global trend in art creation," says Zhang Minjie, head planner of the exhibition and the dean of fresco painting at the China Academy of Art.
The Swiss artworks are very different, many involving black and white and depicting shapes in snow and shadows. Some are highly realistic and almost look like black-and-white photos.
Some are stereoscopic, three-dimensional and multi-layered. Some figures actually stand out in their frames. The tails of animals look furry with tiny paper hairs. Bits of foil and fabric are added to some works.
Some pieces are multicolored landscapes of trees in shades of green and fields in apricot and gold.
In Chinese culture, making chuang hua paper cuts was traditionally a female art or craft to express women's ingenuity, and in the past many country girls were expected to master the art. Brides were evaluated on their homemaking skills that included paper cutting.
Paper cuts traditionally involve Chinese symbols for prosperity, health, harvest, involving characters and animals of the zodiac.
Today paper cutting is widely recognized as an art and it has produced masterworks of great beauty, ingenuity and virtuosity.
The exhibition of around 150 works, "The Art of Paper Cutting, East Meets West," runs through next Tuesday at the Xiangshan Campus of the China Academy of Art.
It is organized together with the Haus Appenzell Cultural Foundation of Zurich.
Many Chinese visitors, who are familiar with Chinese paper-cutting art, have been astounded by the superb, intricate, textured, multidimensional and multicolored Swiss artworks.
Spectacular Chinese paper cuts on display transcend the traditional red chuang hua or "window flower" cuts that were shaped to fit inside windows and decorate them for holidays.
One highlight of the show is a 6-meter-long work by Hua Yuexiu, who once worked in Switzerland. It tells a story about how people from northern China's Shanxi Province celebrate the Chinese New Year.
While Chinese paper cuts are overwhelmingly fashioned in auspicious red, the exhibited artworks also include greens, blues and other colors.
What was originally a highly symbolic traditional folk art has developed a wider aesthetic appeal, while retaining its symbolism.
Hua exhibits works she created in Switzerland. A series of four works tells a love story using deep-blue and light-blue paper to express pure feeling and the natural beauty of the Swiss landscape.
"I insist on the original ideas and symbols of Chinese paper cutting," says Hua. "But we can adopt versatile Western ways of creating art."
Bruno Weber, one of Switzerland's distinguished paper-cutting artists, attended the exhibition and paid tribute to Chinese inspiration for his work.
"My artworks have been influenced by Chinese artworks," says Weber, "especially the symbolic traditional elements, which can also be seen in my creations, but they are definitely not the same."
When Chinese paper-cutting artists create works in Switzerland, "they grasp some simple things to symbolize life's meaning, things that we had thought trivial and already forgotten," says Ernst Hohl, president of the Haus Appenzell Cultural Foundation. "And these simple things are the roots of paper-cutting art."
"To merge features of other cultures is a global trend in art creation," says Zhang Minjie, head planner of the exhibition and the dean of fresco painting at the China Academy of Art.
The Swiss artworks are very different, many involving black and white and depicting shapes in snow and shadows. Some are highly realistic and almost look like black-and-white photos.
Some are stereoscopic, three-dimensional and multi-layered. Some figures actually stand out in their frames. The tails of animals look furry with tiny paper hairs. Bits of foil and fabric are added to some works.
Some pieces are multicolored landscapes of trees in shades of green and fields in apricot and gold.
In Chinese culture, making chuang hua paper cuts was traditionally a female art or craft to express women's ingenuity, and in the past many country girls were expected to master the art. Brides were evaluated on their homemaking skills that included paper cutting.
Paper cuts traditionally involve Chinese symbols for prosperity, health, harvest, involving characters and animals of the zodiac.
Today paper cutting is widely recognized as an art and it has produced masterworks of great beauty, ingenuity and virtuosity.
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