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Fresh jewelry for free spirits
By Xu Wenwen |
February 24, 2010, Wednesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
A free-spirited designer doesn't just turn out trendy ethnic jewelry. He collects special pieces that "speak" to him on his travels and combines them in fresh ways. Xu Wenwen admires.
Designer Hei Zi, or Black Guy, creates one- or two-of-a-kind pieces of ethnic jewelry, accessories and ornaments, all made from materials he spots on his travels around the world and especially in southwestern China.
They might feature dragon-head carvings from chopsticks he bought from a boy on the street or an old woman's worn leather tobacco pouch bought from granny herself.
The 29-year-old, who wears silver earrings and black nail polish (three fingers), strings together multicolored beads, silver, leather, embroidery and unique decorations.
Hei Zi, his nickname and brand, cuts an unusual figure with a dash of ethnic fashion and modern mix-and-match. He is often mistaken for one of China's ethnic minorities because of his dark skin and chiseled features.
He loves it when people get it wrong - he's Han from northeast China - but he steeps himself in minority culture, stays with villagers, shares their food and buys their old clothes.
He also picks through cast-offs and spots interesting design items, some still being worn, some in the dustbin.
Many ornaments feature bits of antique beads and metal, bright ribbons, bone, horn and big tassels. All his materials are recombined in special ways, many conveying a message.
His works are sold only in Charm Cafe and No. 7 Cafe at Hangzhou, China has plenty of designers and manufacturers of ethnic products. Hei Zi's work is distinctive as materials are carefully chosen - they speak to him. They are limited and each piece is special. He only makes one to three pieces a day.
In his travels he does visit markets for some basics like beads, metal and leather. But his most precious materials are those he encounters along the way, often by chance.
"The materials speak. When I see them, I know what I want," he says. "I don't go traveling for shopping."
He always avoids tourist traps and commercial spots, preferring to rough it with the locals.
Once while he was wandering in a food market in Yunnan Province, he spotted a little boy eating with a pair of dragon-head chopsticks.
"It was love at first sight." Hei Zi bought them from the boy's parents, later cut off the dragon heads and made them into a necklace with pieces of ivory.
Art and stories
He has recovered such items as an old woman's leather tobacco pouch, hand-woven scarves and pieces of pottery.
"Only a pure heart and peaceful mind can make good works," says Hei Zi. "When I see something I want, I never calculate my purchase price and selling price. I just ask the price and buy."
He uses his ornaments to expresses his insights into the human experience. For example, he combines different sizes of jades in one pendant to show conflicts among people.
"I recombine the materials I collect and give them style," he says. "The main idea is to express my feelings in the process of obtaining materials and turning them into ornaments.
"My works are distinctive because I also knit my affection and sensations into them.
"Therefore, people with life stories are ideal to wear my works as they can handle and enrich their meaning."
His customers are from China and abroad. Yang Liping, one of China's best-known dancers, frequently wears his works.
Hei Zi himself wears at least a dash of ethnic fashion every day, frequently mixing and matching. Super baggy black pants go with red canvas shoes. Luxury hand-made eye wear from Japan is worn with a cheap flax scarf and two trademark silver earrings.
When they see him, most people do a double-take.
The free spirit designer is on the road for four or five months a year, and southwestern China is his favorite place because it's filled with different minorities and rustic villages. He likes to live like the locals and appreciate their authentic way of life, bunking with villagers, sharing their meals and chatting.
No trendy backpack or parka for him - he buys or borrows clothes from locals.
"Their clothes are probably not washed, and I may bathe only once a week, but I feel my heart and mind are pure and clean."
This year again he plans to visit southwest China, usually Yunnan Province. Some people don't understand why he always travels a long way to pretty much the same place. He describes his repeated round trips as drawing circles. Once he completes a circle he understands life better and can inject fresh ideas into his works.
Designer Hei Zi, or Black Guy, creates one- or two-of-a-kind pieces of ethnic jewelry, accessories and ornaments, all made from materials he spots on his travels around the world and especially in southwestern China.
They might feature dragon-head carvings from chopsticks he bought from a boy on the street or an old woman's worn leather tobacco pouch bought from granny herself.
The 29-year-old, who wears silver earrings and black nail polish (three fingers), strings together multicolored beads, silver, leather, embroidery and unique decorations.
Hei Zi, his nickname and brand, cuts an unusual figure with a dash of ethnic fashion and modern mix-and-match. He is often mistaken for one of China's ethnic minorities because of his dark skin and chiseled features.
He loves it when people get it wrong - he's Han from northeast China - but he steeps himself in minority culture, stays with villagers, shares their food and buys their old clothes.
He also picks through cast-offs and spots interesting design items, some still being worn, some in the dustbin.
Many ornaments feature bits of antique beads and metal, bright ribbons, bone, horn and big tassels. All his materials are recombined in special ways, many conveying a message.
His works are sold only in Charm Cafe and No. 7 Cafe at Hangzhou, China has plenty of designers and manufacturers of ethnic products. Hei Zi's work is distinctive as materials are carefully chosen - they speak to him. They are limited and each piece is special. He only makes one to three pieces a day.
In his travels he does visit markets for some basics like beads, metal and leather. But his most precious materials are those he encounters along the way, often by chance.
"The materials speak. When I see them, I know what I want," he says. "I don't go traveling for shopping."
He always avoids tourist traps and commercial spots, preferring to rough it with the locals.
Once while he was wandering in a food market in Yunnan Province, he spotted a little boy eating with a pair of dragon-head chopsticks.
"It was love at first sight." Hei Zi bought them from the boy's parents, later cut off the dragon heads and made them into a necklace with pieces of ivory.
Art and stories
He has recovered such items as an old woman's leather tobacco pouch, hand-woven scarves and pieces of pottery.
"Only a pure heart and peaceful mind can make good works," says Hei Zi. "When I see something I want, I never calculate my purchase price and selling price. I just ask the price and buy."
He uses his ornaments to expresses his insights into the human experience. For example, he combines different sizes of jades in one pendant to show conflicts among people.
"I recombine the materials I collect and give them style," he says. "The main idea is to express my feelings in the process of obtaining materials and turning them into ornaments.
"My works are distinctive because I also knit my affection and sensations into them.
"Therefore, people with life stories are ideal to wear my works as they can handle and enrich their meaning."
His customers are from China and abroad. Yang Liping, one of China's best-known dancers, frequently wears his works.
Hei Zi himself wears at least a dash of ethnic fashion every day, frequently mixing and matching. Super baggy black pants go with red canvas shoes. Luxury hand-made eye wear from Japan is worn with a cheap flax scarf and two trademark silver earrings.
When they see him, most people do a double-take.
The free spirit designer is on the road for four or five months a year, and southwestern China is his favorite place because it's filled with different minorities and rustic villages. He likes to live like the locals and appreciate their authentic way of life, bunking with villagers, sharing their meals and chatting.
No trendy backpack or parka for him - he buys or borrows clothes from locals.
"Their clothes are probably not washed, and I may bathe only once a week, but I feel my heart and mind are pure and clean."
This year again he plans to visit southwest China, usually Yunnan Province. Some people don't understand why he always travels a long way to pretty much the same place. He describes his repeated round trips as drawing circles. Once he completes a circle he understands life better and can inject fresh ideas into his works.
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