Nuclear carving is a kind of carving art on the core, its volume is not large, and its space is between the palms of the fingers. The art of miniature carving between this square inch has a long history.
The art of nuclear carving spreads to the north and south of the mainland, and Guangfu nuclear sculpture is a kind of nuclear sculpture of the southern school, which is mainly popular in Guangfu Town and Zhoushan Village in Suzhou. In 2008, suzhou Wuzhong "Guangfu nuclear sculpture" was listed as a national intangible cultural heritage project.
Lu Xiaoqin is a master of arts and crafts in Jiangsu Province and a representative inheritor of the national intangible cultural heritage (Guangfu nuclear sculpture). In an interview with the surging news, she said that after a hundred years of nuclear carving, it should no longer be confined to tradition, from the blade, from the classical literature to the thousands of rivers and mountains, and then to the social reality, the current nuclear carving technique should express the spirit of the present. "The spirit and culture of each era will eventually be embodied in the artifacts of that era." "I firmly believe that if you see something to do, you must continue to do it and do it well."
During the Ming and Qing dynasties, Suzhou nuclear sculpture has reached a high artistic standard. At the end of the Ming Dynasty, Wei Xuehuan's "Record of the Nuclear Boat" vividly described all aspects of Wang Shuyuan's peach core carving work "Dongpo You Chibi" during the Apocalypse period, and was praised as "the material of the spirit monster"; during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, the Suzhou micro-carving artist Du Shiyuan carved on the peach core, "Dongpo You Chibi" was called "ghost work" by the people at the time. Since the Ming Dynasty, nuclear carving technology has gone through hundreds of years of development, experiencing ups and downs.
Guangfu nuclear carving technique
Guangfu nuclear sculpture is mainly based on the hard and delicate Texture of Guangdong Wuhang Olive Core as the material, the shape basically maintains the original shape of the core, there are beaded strings, pendants and ornaments and other main styles, the theme content involves fairy figures, folk stories, folk life, landscape gardens and so on. The craftsmanship of this technique is exquisite and delicate, with clear lines and a strong sense of three-dimensionality, reflecting the technical tradition of "fine, fine, strange and ingenious" carving in Suzhou.
Shift from wood carving to nuclear carving
Born in 1976 in Guangfu Town, Wuzhong District, Suzhou, Lu Xiaoqin developed a keen interest in folk art from an early age under the influence of her family. After years of experience, she has become a master of arts and crafts in Jiangsu Province and a representative inheritor of the national intangible cultural heritage (Guangfu nuclear sculpture).
Lu Xiaoqin is in the studio
Every day, Lu Xiaoqin would sit in the studio of Guangfu Town, holding an olive core in one hand, holding a carving knife in the other, shoveling a moment, outlining his thoughts and thoughts between the inches. In an interview with the surging news reporter, Lu Xiaoqin talked about his artistic career, saying that he was a halfway monk, and now he is single-mindedly studying nuclear carving skills.
Lu Xiaoqin told reporters that the area where she grew up is not far from Taihu Lake, and in this area, every woman in every household will embroider, and she is no exception. "My mother was an embroidery lady, and watching them embroider from a young age, it was natural, as if it was innate. In such a living environment, I became interested in art, and when I read books, I was very good at art, and I often painted blank faces in books. ”
Out of love for art, after graduating from high school in 1995, Lu Xiaoqin did not rush to work like most people, but wanted to learn a craft. At that time, she chose wood carving. As a soldier' father, lu Xiaoqin's father had a bold and open personality, and Lu Xiaoqin's idea did not meet much resistance. In this way, the twenty-year-old Lu Xiaoqin began to engage in the craft of wood carving and rosewood carving, which lasted for 12 years.
Xu Zhongying's work "December Flower God"
Xu Zhongying's work "Jing Zhongguo"
In 2005, the Wuzhong District Government of Suzhou paid more attention to the technique of nuclear carving and began to vigorously publicize it. After learning about the nuclear carving technique, Lu Xiaoqin was attracted by the magic of nuclear carving. At this point, Lu Xiaoqin's artistic path underwent a change in 2007, she gave up her wood carving career of more than ten years, and turned to Xu Zhongying, a nuclear carving artist who was nearly 50 years old, as a teacher and officially entered the field of nuclear carving. Lu Xiaoqin said that the reason why she changed her profession was on the one hand attracted by the delicacy and charm of nuclear carving, on the other hand, wood carving needed carpentry and lacquer work together to complete, so it could not fully reflect what she thought. "After I came into contact with nuclear sculpture, I found that although nuclear sculpture is small, it can express your thoughts and ideas as much as you want. Nuclear sculpture is the projection of the carrier by my own inner world. ”
Lu Xiaoqin laughed and said that perhaps it is precisely because of the accumulation of wood carving in the previous years that he laid the foundation for his nuclear carving, so he was able to switch to nuclear carving with ease. "Wood carvings are textured, and when carving, they need to be shoveled down along the texture, and the nuclear carving is very delicate, there is no texture like wood carving, and you can cut it from any angle." On the first day of studying with the master, Lu Xiaoqin successfully carved the first Luohan head, and the speed of getting started was far more than that of others several times. In this way, Lu Xiaoqin studied for half a month and then became a teacher. After returning home, she began her own research and innovation.
Lu Xiaoqin's "Taihu Lake Xiaguang"
Carved out of the world,000 gods and immortals
Speaking of nuclear sculpture, Wei Xuehuan's "Nuclear Boat Record" has made this strange technique pass on by word of mouth and deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. “... Count one boat, five for people; eight for windows; for a canopy, for a canopy, for a stove, for a pot, for a hand scroll, for a rosary; for couplets, inscriptions, and seals, for a total of thirty and four characters. And counting its length, it has not been profitable. Gaijian peach core repairer for this. Hey, the trick is weird! In Lu Xiaoqin's view, these descriptions in "The Record of nuclear boats" are the magic work of the nuclear carving industry.
Lu Xiaoqin's sculpture of "The Record of the Nuclear Boat"
After leaving the school, Lu Xiaoqin began to challenge the "Nuclear Boat Chronicle". "There is a nuclear boat carved by Chen Zuzhang in the National Palace Museum in Taipei. I later closed the door myself and spent a month making a nuclear boat with 18 characters carved into it, as depicted in the Nuclear Boat Chronicle. I made this work to confirm my own ability level, and at that time, I did not carve according to the photos of other people's works, but relied on my own imagination. ”
After carving the "Nuclear Boat Record", Lu Xiaoqin completed the self-examination of the technique and began to think about where his artistic path should go. In terms of carving themes, she began to study the carving methods of Buddha statues and Guanyin; in terms of techniques, she applied the techniques of wood carving to the carving of nuclear carvings.
Lu Xiaoqin's "Eight Treasures guanyin"
Lu Xiaoqin's "Three Saints of the West"
"The theme of Buddhism was chosen because it has a wide audience. At the same time, everyone is very clear about this concept of Buddha and Bodhisattva, so it is also a challenge that the image of Buddha and Bodhisattva you create needs to be recognized by everyone. Lu Xiaoqin said. Of course, the shaping of her Buddhist theme is not a rootless water, she told reporters, her carved Arhat and Buddha statues refer to the Buddha statues in Suzhou's Zijin Nunnery.
A full-inch nuclear sculpture, from the selection of cores, layout, carving to completion of more than a dozen processes. Lu Xiaoqin said that carving works is a long process, as short as a few days, as long as a month. At the same time, in her view, works that truly integrate into the author's thoughts are works with life and temperature.
Her works are not limited to the eighteen arhats, the god of wealth, Maitreya and other figures of "a thousand faces", but more history, scenes in life, and personal emotions are integrated into the works, creating many new themes. Among them, she used six nuclear sculptures to "tell" the legendary story of Liang Zhu - Studying in Yingtai, Worshiping in the Grass Pavilion, Three Years in the Same Window, Eighteen Sending, Acacia Into Disease, and Butterfly Double Dance; "Jinling Twelve Chao" depicted by twelve special olive nuclei, allowing the audience to glimpse the leisurely years described in "Dream of the Red Chamber" in the work...
Lu Xiaoqin's work "Spring and Autumn of Light and Shadow"
Lu Xiaoqin's "Seal of the Zodiac"
In addition, his work "On the Side of the Water", inspired by the "Book of Poetry", is carved on the inner wall of the olive core, using a thin and hollowing technique, the tension and flexibility, the poetry of the truth and illusion are fully displayed; the work "Zodiac Seal" is based on the zodiac and combined with the seal, which is interesting; and "Lotus Pond Whisper" uses a strange core to create an artistic mood of "leaving the residual lotus to listen to the sound of rain"; "Dance" is based on an old core, originating from the meaning of "Zen dance", and the rhythm and lines of the characters are vividly reflected in the curved surface of the core.
After becoming a parent, Lu Xiaoqin realized that it was not easy to be a parent. In this way, she created the work "Watch" based on the theme of empty nest old people, depicting a scene of an old man with a dog standing at the entrance of the village and watching his children return; and the work "Childhood" calls on parents to reflect on their children's childhood and growth.
Since entering the industry in 2007 and then winning many awards, in just a few years, Lu Xiaoqin's name has become a big noise in the circle. In 2009, her work "Five Dragons Guanyin" won the bronze medal of "2009 China Nanjing Cultural Industry Fair Jiangsu Yibo Cup Arts and Crafts Excellence Award", and in 2013, she won the "Mountain Flower Award", the highest award of folk art, with her work "Twenty-Four Filial Pieties".
Lu Xiaoqin's work "Childhood"
Lu Xiaoqin's "Twenty-Four Filial Pieties"
The ups and downs of guangfu nuclear sculpture require the temperature of art
The nuclear carving technique began in the Ming Dynasty and went through the historical stage of development, prosperity and decline. After the reform and opening up, Guangfu Nuclear Eagle has entered a period of recovery.
Lu Xiaoqin said that since modern times, the ecology of Guangfu nuclear sculpture has been spontaneously formed, rising and falling with the changes of the times. "The community of nuclear carving artists in Zhoushan Village, Guangfu Town, here is naturally formed. In the past, there was a nuclear carving factory, and many craftsmen were originally masters in the factory, but after the disintegration of the factory, the craftsmen returned to their families and continued to do nuclear carving at home in order to make a living. After the reform and opening up, with the improvement of people's lives, more and more people began to like the process of nuclear carving, and these craftsmen also came to Shanghai City God Temple and Beijing Panjiayuan to sell with this wave. As the nuclear carving market became more and more popular, the merchants ran to Guangfu to receive the goods. Lu Xiaoqin told reporters that since the millennium, the nuclear carving market has been rising like a stock, and after more than 10 years of development, the number of nuclear carving artists is estimated to be tens of thousands.
A nuclear boat carved by Chen Zuzhang in the Qing Dynasty
Suzhou nuclear sculpture representative Figure Zhou Jianming carved "Nuclear Boat Record"
However, after the peak, in recent years, with the shrinking of the nuclear carving market, the shrinking of the consumer group, the loss of skills and other reasons, the number of artists engaged in nuclear carving has begun to decrease. At the same time, the emergence of machine engraving has also brought great tests to craftsmen. In Lu Xiaoqin's view, machine carving has gradually occupied the traditional small commodity market, because it is cheap and easy to sell, so that some handicrafts with general production standards have been slowly replaced. "In the market, many crafts are of similar quality, and there are fewer people who really collect nuclear sculptures."
Although machine carving has increased, Lu Xiaoqin still maintains an optimistic attitude towards elaborate nuclear carving works. In her view, craftsmanship is always scarce, good works have temperature and soul, and cold machines are two concepts.
Previously, Professor Yuan Mu of Soochow University emphasized in an interview with reporters that in the current development of scanning and printing technology, the development of arts and crafts is more important to establish thinking on the basis of innovative spirit. In this regard, Lu Xiaoqin believes that contemporary nuclear carving is no longer limited to tradition, from the blade from classical literature to thousands of rivers and mountains, and then to social reality, the current nuclear carving technique should express the spirit of the moment
Lu Xiaoqin's work "Dancing"
Lu Xiaoqin's work "Qingqi Weird - National Soul"
Lu Xiaoqin's "Beautiful China"
"The spirit and culture of each era will eventually be embodied in artifacts. I firmly believe that if you see something to do, you must continue to do it and do it well. This is Lu Xiaoqin's spirit of ingenuity. She said that her dream is to let the art of nuclear carving truly integrate into life, engrave the cultural imprint of contemporary people on nuclear carving, and spread nuclear carving culture to more people.