In recent years, with the gradual rise of national tide art, whether it is the ingenuity of the non-hereditary inheritors, or the painstaking ink painters, or the imaginative young designers, have begun to try to use a more "grounded" form to make the traditional elements more approachable.
The Spring Festival of the Year of the Tiger is approaching, the tiger is the protagonist, how to play with the "tiger" element, Guangxi's local artists seem to have mastered the "eye-catching code". In the hands of these artists, the zodiac tiger has realized various cross-border cooperation and become more vivid and interesting.
Tigers dressed in brocade
Have you ever seen it?
"There are tigers in the family, peace and happiness; touch the tiger's head, eat and wear without worry; touch the tiger's mouth, drive away evil spirits and avoid ghosts; touch the tiger's back, glory and wealth; touch the tiger's tail, perfect and perfect..." This folk "tiger ballad" shows that tiger culture has a long history in China, because of the harmonic sound of "tiger" and "fu", the folk also regard the tiger as a symbol of auspiciousness and peace.
Because of this, on the occasion of the Spring Festival, Guangxi Zhuangjin master Tan Xiangguang combined Zhuangjin elements with tiger puppets to design a cute Zhuangjin tiger. The tiger baby "New Year's New Clothes" cut out of Zhuangjin are brightly colored and intricately patterned, with distinct Guangxi national characteristics.
Tan Xiangguang (right) instructs students to sew Zhuangjin tigers. Courtesy of respondents
The Spring Festival is approaching, and Tan Xiangguang and his friends in the studio are rushing to make Zhuangjin tigers every day. They cut and sew by hand, and every tiger born in their hands is a unique work of art.
This group of tiger dolls can not only be placed at home as handicrafts, but also can be carried and played daily, and because of the "strong brocade" has the collection value of traditional culture, once launched, it is loved and snapped up by people.
Cute and loving Zhuangjin teacher doll. Courtesy of respondents
"We can not only wear zhuangjin on the body, but also turn it into a beautiful handicraft with auspicious meaning, especially products that meet the aesthetic preferences of today's young people, and enter our daily lives." As the inheritor of Zhuangjin, Tan Xiangguang knows that in order to carry forward the Zhuangjin culture, it is necessary to constantly innovate and let traditional crafts "fly into the homes of ordinary people".
Tigers who say "love tiger oil"
Do you like it?
In the recent exhibition held in Nanning, "tiger" has become the theme of many artists. Among them, a group of interesting Zodiac works of the Year of the Tiger by Professor Yu Xianglong of the Chinese Painting School of Guangxi Academy of Arts can't help but be funny after watching.
Combine the cash cow with the two tigers, skillfully combine into the word "Fu", which has the meaning of full of pots and bowls; the word "home" is deformed and designed, embedded in the harmonic stem of "love tiger oil", which means the happiness of the family; the fat baby wearing a tiger head hat and wearing tiger head shoes is as festive and cute as a New Year painting doll... Yu Xianglong has created this unique set of art works through the exploration and refinement of the connotation of the tiger zodiac, combined with the expression of modern design and ink painting.
Professor Yu Xianglong's painting "Love Tiger Oil". South China Morning Post client trainee reporter You Yongjun photographed
When the works were exhibited, they attracted many audiences to stop and appreciate. "Everyone is a tiger, but this group of works is very new and interesting, if it is made into a cultural and creative product, I will definitely buy it as a New Year gift for my friends." Citizen Miss Feng was full of praise for the creativity.
Yu Xianglong admitted that the creation of this group of zodiac works was inspired by the cultural creation of the Forbidden City. It turned out that his students worked in the Forbidden City in Beijing and would send the forbidden city cultural and creative calendar to the teacher every year. Yu Xianglong, who has been engaged in design and Chinese painting teaching for many years, looked at these exquisite products and suddenly had his own idea, "We in Guangxi can also create such interesting zodiac signs."
Professor Yu Xianglong's painting "Money Gaidi Tiger". South China Morning Post client trainee reporter You Yongjun photographed
As a result, the zodiac signs became extremely creative and interesting under Yu Xianglong's pen. At present, he has completed the creation of creative paintings of the Zodiac, and next, how to combine this project with the local national characteristics of Guangxi to develop more cultural and creative products is the problem he is thinking about.
A vernacular tiger
Do you like it?
With the rise of the national tide, the younger generation has paid attention to the annual zodiac limited design. Many young up-and-coming designers have also tried to design the image and meaning of "tiger" into the clothing, cultural creativity and daily necessities that are popular among young people.
A small design shop in the Xingning District of Nanning City has recently become a punch card for many young people. The owner of the shop, Yu Ying, said that she has been studying tiger painting for five or six years, and at the beginning she would prefer to draw folk style plate paintings, at the end of last year, she inadvertently created cartoon images of two small tigers with "fault" and "temper", after which she and her friends began to record and share through these two tigers in their daily lives.
Yu Ying with her tiger. South China Morning Post client trainee reporter You Yongjun photographed
The two put the image of the little tiger on the product design, and they did not expect to be quite popular with young customers. "Happy to be smooth" and "safe in and out", the "new-style Spring Festival" of the tiger image, locals will smile when they see it.
Design shop "Hidden Cat Crouching Tiger". South China Morning Post client trainee reporter You Yongjun photographed
When asked why the tiger in the design "speaks" Nanning vernacular, Yu Ying said that because he grew up in Nanning, he did not deliberately integrate Nanning elements into his creation, and what daily life looked like was naturally put into the work.
At the same time, at a pop-up event held in Nanning, the design products featuring the national tide style with the tiger as the element are also popular among young people. Ms. Yu, the designer of the event, said that the young people now feel that the taste of the New Year is getting weaker and weaker, and they combine the traditional "tiger" image with the popular "national tide" to design the trendy Spring League, Fuzi, red envelopes and other tiger products, so that young people can also join the Spring Festival atmosphere decoration team to increase the sense of atmosphere and ceremony of the New Year.
Source: Southern Morning Post client