Pushing open the door of the calligraphy and painting room on the 2nd floor of the Lao gan office of Hubei Academy of Fine Arts, I was greeted by a variety of lifelike rag dolls. An old man with gray hair sat in a corner of the studio, bowing his head and tinkering with the rag doll in his hand. The elderly man in front of him is Chen Lijun, a retired teacher at the Hubei Academy of Fine Arts, who uses various wastes to create "soft sculptures".
Discern the waste materials, skillfully shape the soft carving
In the 1980s, Chen Lijun led students to prepare for the first masquerade ball of Hubei Academy of Fine Arts, and due to the limited funds and simple conditions at that time, she encouraged students to collect discarded beverage bottles, old clothes, torn towels and other daily necessities to make costumes and props for the masquerade ball. Unexpectedly, this move surprised four seats, and the dance party was a great success! Since then, she has been out of control, and for more than thirty years she has insisted on creating various "soft sculpture" works from waste, the most representative of which is the cute rag doll. The skin of the rag doll is stretched out of waste stockings, the hair is the collar of idle clothes, and the filling is rotten cloth strips or eliminated sofa sponges... "environmental protection" is the biggest feature of Chen Lijun's works. With the production techniques of cutting, cutting, sewing, collage and pasting, she turns decay into magic and waste into treasure, showing people a unique and charming artistic kingdom.
The source of creation is life, and it is famous at home and abroad
Chen Lijun has always been enthusiastic about ecological and environmental protection public welfare undertakings, and has created a series of works rich in ecological and cultural connotations. In order to promote the concept of a civilized city to the public, she used waste items to produce the work "Sanitation Worker" to guide the public to establish a sense of environmental protection. In order to protect our mother River Yangtze River and protect the lovely porpoise, she specially produced the work "Finless Porpoise Mo Sad, I Take You to Find Your Mother", and planned the country's first art exhibition focusing on the theme of the current situation of the porpoise, which has attracted widespread attention from the society; in order to spread the concept of green and low-carbon life, she launched the "Happy Home - Tan Hualin Series Family Art Exhibition" to publicize the family's low-carbon consumption pattern from the aspects of clothing, food, use and travel, and advocate residents to practice a low-carbon lifestyle. Chen Lijun's anecdotes about environmental protection public welfare undertakings were passed on by word of mouth, and in 2006, he won the honorary title of "Environmental Protection Family" in China.
The rag dolls created by Chen Lijun are not only famous in China, but also shine on the international stage. In 2003, France held the "Year of Chinese Culture" activity, Chen Lijun's rag doll once exhibited, it aroused the strong interest of Bordeaux artists and environmental protection volunteers, they carefully admired these works of art created from waste, deeply felt the charm of Sinochem culture and the concept of ecological civilization full of wisdom.
Sanitation workers
"Porpoise Porpoise Mo Sad, I take you to find your mother"
"Summer Cool"
"Friendship of War"
(China Daily Hubei Reporter Station)