As a traditional craft, paper cutting was almost a universally known folk art in ancient society. However, with the changing times, paper cutting has gradually declined, and even the tradition of pasting paper cuts during the New Year or festivals has slowly disappeared. Since things that can be mass-produced mechanically, why bother making them by hand? What innovative variations can a traditional art that has been passed down for nearly 1500 years bring?
Artspace K is currently hosting a special exhibition “Cut ∙ Paper”, inviting seven renowned senior and emerging paper cutting artists – Li Yunxia, Li Huanzhang, Liu Mingkeng, Li Gengchun, Chen Yanting, Yang Yating, and Zheng Kaiyin, showcasing nearly 90 traditional and contemporary paper cutting artworks. They cut out life, culture, history, emotions, and beautiful things, transforming paper cutting from a traditional craft into a diverse and rich modern art form!
The exhibition showcases the traditional paper-cutting art of the senior predecessors Li Yunxia and the preserver Li Huanzhang, both artists who bring out classical beauty with unique folk patterns. Li Huanzhang, in order to adapt to the humid environment, even tried using satin to create his works. They use techniques such as dyeing, paper layering, and collage to break away from the traditional monochromatic paper-cutting style, while also combining Eastern and Western art to create some blended works.
Li Yunxia uses the characteristics and textures of paper, as well as different colored paper, to create rich compositions, variations in thickness and curvature of lines, and the interchange of yin and yang engraving patterns, presenting a more colorful effect.
Artist Yang Yating’s work is not limited to traditional paper-cut patterns, but focuses on her expertise in animal and plant patterns. Since 2017, she has been inspired by Taiwanese ferns, using the colors, patterns, and the carved textures of the paper to create a three-dimensional expression and lively posture for the originally flat paper ferns, creating evergreen paper plants. Her work is novel and vibrant, definitely providing everyone with a new visual experience and opening up imagination about traditional paper cutting.
Artist Chen Yanting takes inspiration from Chinese paper-cutting art as the foundation for modern design creations, combining Western design with Eastern paper-cutting. The “Words ∙ Origins” series of paper-cut works on display this time, the ancient people created characters based on profound observations of nature, deriving meaning from the vivid appearances of mountains, rivers, sun, moon, and lively birds and animals. This series of paper-cut works allows the audience to revisit the fun of the creation of writing, selecting six complex-stroke ancient characters, and enhancing the visual impression with layered paper-cutting.
Artist Li Gengchun uses Western design logic, using different colored papers and multiple layers of patterns to present the story through paper cutting. Injecting Western fairy tales into his work, he uses the layering of paper cutting to highlight the characteristics of the characters and the content of the fairy tales. In addition, he also cuts out the three Chinese traditional mythological figures of Fu, Lu, and Shou, aligning with the ancient creative theme, implying blessings to each other.
Artist Zheng Kaiyin is fascinated by the delicate qualities of paper, creating a series of works that play with the concepts of “heavy” and “light,” “pull” and “release.” She transforms traditional techniques of paper cutting and combines them with modern materials to construct an imaginative world. Her exhibited works mainly feature plants, flowers, butterflies, and other insects, with graceful forms. Exploring the balance between “yin” and “yang,” each pattern carries different meanings and blessings are conveyed through the lines.
Artist Liu Mingkeng’s paper cutting integrates performance, creating a three-dimensional book story theater that breaks the public’s inherent understanding of paper cutting, creating a three-dimensional paper sculpture art that echoes two-dimensional and three-dimensional spaces, light, and shadow. Exhibiting a series of text works, combining semi-three-dimensional, lighting unique effects, connecting the text together, presenting paper cutting in a lively expressive manner. He also specially designed a three-dimensional book theater for this exhibition, hoping to add modern elements to traditional paper cutting through creation and theater, and give the younger generation the opportunity to appreciate paper cutting art creation.
Artists turn some of their favorite things and current popular elements into creations, showcasing the beauty of traditional paper-cutting and the charm of fashion. If your impression of paper-cutting still remains in its use for decorating homes during festivals, then you must visit this exhibition and explore more possibilities of paper-cutting with the artists.
Date: From now until February 13, 2022
Time: 11:00 AM to 7:00 PM (Closed on Mondays)
Location: Artspace K, G105-106, 109 Shallow Bay Road, Hong Kong
Image source and learn more: Artspace K
