When youth bumps into "intangible" embroidery

China Youth Daily and China Youth Network reporter Shen Jiequn

Young teachers of Shanghai Vocational College of Arts and Crafts (Kong Wei in the middle). Courtesy of respondents

"Embroidery is the most beautiful complex in my life, using bandages, embroidery racks, silver needles, and flower threads to embroider works that symbolize good wishes. When I think of embroidery, I will have the scene of the embroiderer woman carefully embroidering by the window in my mind, and I will have infinite joy in my heart. ”

The past decade or so of Convić has been associated with "intangible cultural heritage" embroidery.

In 2008, Kong Wei was admitted to the School of Handicraft Arts of Shanghai Vocational College of Arts and Crafts (hereinafter referred to as "Shanghai Academy of Arts and Crafts"), and later studied in the Intangible Cultural Heritage Embroidery Master Class of the School Arts and Crafts Research Center. Today, she is a young teacher at the school.

After 14 years, the identity has changed from a student to a young teacher, and Convić deeply feels that intangible embroidery not only has the temperature of handiwork, but also conveys the personality expression of "handicraft and multi-media integration" at present. "Embroidery condenses the life experience and life story of the makers, and embroiders the emotional imprint of people in each era."

At the Shanghai Academy of Arts and Crafts, a partner of China Youth Daily's "Warm One Square", there are many young people like Kong Wei who have "intangible youth". As young guardians and inheritors, they breathe new life into ancient craftsmanship.

The embroidery full of emotion warms oneself and others

In August 2008, Kong Wei entered the Shanghai Academy of Arts and Crafts to study handicraft design and production.

During his three years of study, Kong Wei studied the history of Chinese and foreign arts and crafts, the history of Chinese art, decorative patterns, sculpture, Chinese painting, seal carving and other professional courses, and practiced the production process of jade carving, clay sculpture, glass, ceramics, straw weaving and other crafts.

Under the guidance of the teachers, Kong Wei's graduation work "Phoenix" was selected for the first Shanghai Folk Art Achievements Exhibition. "Three years of study at the Shanghai Academy of Arts and Crafts has opened a magical door for my life. I learned about various crafts and watched the works of craftsmen. It is through continuous learning, practice and experimentation that I have discovered the beauty of this profession."

After 3 years of basic study, Convić made an important choice when he graduated: to specialize in embroidery.

"When I first graduated, the college established a master class, and I saw that there was an embroidery major, and I was deeply attracted by the album of Chen Shuiqin's embroidered work "Gaze", in which the cat's blue-green watery eyes. So smart! So I applied for embroidery. ”

After graduating from the handicraft design and production major, Kong Wei officially began the road of embroidery study, under the tutelage of Chen Shuiqin, a national non-hereditary heir of Hangzhou embroidery and a master of Chinese arts and crafts.

As the university with the largest number of intangible cultural heritage protection varieties of traditional handicrafts in China, and the only university in Shanghai that has the professional characteristics of arts and crafts and non-genetic inheritance, the Shanghai Academy of Arts and Crafts encourages young students to further their studies in the field of arts and crafts and intangible cultural heritage.

Convić recalls that when she first met Ms. Chen Shuiqin in 2012, she was demonstrating embroidery to students in the embroidery studio, "looking quiet and beautiful." In 2012, she has been engaged in embroidery for more than fifty years. I couldn't help but admire the silk threads that were thinner than a hair, which she easily put into the embroidery needles. The lines she embroidered were neat and smooth, the stitches were clean, and the silk threads were shiny. And you can see the different luster textures of the silk threads at different angles, exquisite and vivid. ”

Kong Wei said that at that time, Teacher Chen Shuiqin brought three small samples of his own embroidery. "One is a crimson flower tree pattern, embroidered by a pin and a bag stem embroidery stitch; one is a pink peony flower embroidered by the wooden comb set stitching method; and the other is a seed embroidery, a qi needle, and a wooden comb set stitching method embroidered with the "Happy Eyebrow Tips.""

Convić and the other students fell in love with the exquisite embroidery created by the teacher. "Teacher Chen told us that good embroidery should have the characteristics of 'fine, fine, elegant and clean'. We can't wait to start learning embroidery. ”

From the first day of learning embroidery, Convić deeply felt from the heart: learning embroidery is a very beautiful thing.

As teacher Chen Shuiqin said, learning embroidery can make people calm down and "embroider their hearts". "That stitch and thread embroidered work, because it carries its own emotions, can make people who encounter it feel warm."

From students to teachers, bring old skills to life

In recent years, the exquisite embroidery works have become the "darlings" of film and television dramas and are loved by young audiences. However, learning the craft of embroidery requires a long period of accumulation and intensive practice.

Convić told reporters that she had just encountered setbacks when she was practicing "the stitching of the small peony pattern of the wooden comb sleeve".

"Although the picture looks like pink flowers, each flower and each petal is different. When I began to learn embroidery, I saw that the outer edge of some petals was dark, and I thought that the teacher said to embroider 'from shallow to deep', so I embroidered from the core of the flower, and the result was that the direction of embroidery was reversed, and at that time, I always did not deal with the relationship between virtual and real. ”

The teacher told Kong Wei that the embroidery petals should be embroidered from the edges to the inside, and the color of the petals will appear vivid and natural. "The teacher asked me to remove the wrongly embroidered petals. When the scissors cut into the petals, my heart was hurting, and the petals that had been embroidered for so long had to be dismantled and re-embroidered, which was a little painful. But I finally learned how to use stitching flexibly to embroider the petals that worked best. ”

For Convić, embroidery is a never-ending art.

For example, one year she embroidered Chen Hongshou's "Peach Blossom White Head Picture", in which the white-headed man lay quietly on the branch, his body was like a hairball, which required her to analyze the body structure and head structure of the white-headed man clearly, twist the silk strands naturally, and embroider the light and fluffy texture of the bird's belly feathers.

"The thread I used at that time was three silks, and it was double-sided embroidery, so I didn't dare to be careless. I carefully embroidered the edges of the hooked white sketch, only to be too 'tight' between the stitches and the feathers to be embroidered like leaves. When Kong Wei was at a loss, Teacher Chen Shuiqin embroidered the bird's abdomen with a thread, making the bird's abdomen instantly three-dimensional; and the bird's eyes also became bright after the teacher modified.

"I marveled at Teacher Chen's dexterous hands, and even more admired her love and obsession with embroidery. She is very busy at work, and she insists on embroidering every day, and she strives for excellence, which is what I have to learn in my life. ”

In 2017, Kong Wei participated in the Shanghai Civic Cultural Festival Citizen Handicraft Competition with his work "Bamboo Stone Sunflower Bird" and won the title of "Shanghai 100 Craftsmen". In 2019, she participated in the China Arts and Crafts Expo with her work "April Day" and won the silver medal of the 2019 China Arts and Crafts Exposition "Shengong Cup" Creative Design and Production Competition.

Kong Wei's double-sided embroidered "Calla Lily" is collected in the exhibition hall of the Shanghai Academy of Arts and Crafts – the excellent works created by teachers and students will be collected by the school in this warm space.

Today, KongVich has grown into a young teacher at the Shanghai Academy of Arts and Crafts. She lamented that young non-genetic inheritors not only shoulder the inheritance of traditional skills, but also have the responsibility and obligation to make ancient handicrafts revitalize in the new era.

"I hope that we can live up to our mission, create embroidery works of art that keep pace with the times, and assist the school to cultivate generations of innovative embroidery enthusiasts with solid embroidery skills and high aesthetic taste for the society." Convić said.

Source: China Youth Daily client