Sand painting creator He Lei: Sand painting opens another window to observe the world

Cover news reporter Liu Kexin The images and videos were provided by the interviewees

Pen up, pen down, sketch...

Spreading sand, spreading sand, pinching sand...

Here in He Lei, there are two brushes, one is a pencil and the other is her hands. Behind the profession of art teacher, He Lei also has an identity: the creator of sand painting. From the first time he saw the sand painting performance in 2015 to the present, He Lei has been able to completely design and create the performance of color sand and single sand. Looking back on the 7 years of spending time with sand painting, He Lei said that sand painting has opened another window for her to observe and understand the world.

He Lei

The world in the sand painting: Twice visited the teacher, never forgetting

On Father's Day in 2015, He Lei saw the color sand painting program "Father's Shoulders" on TV, opening up a new world: "Wow, sand can still paint!" He Lei found that sand can not only paint, but even the "painting" he is familiar with, but also can be changed in another form and put on the stage. Moving as soon as he spoke, He Lei began to look for ways to learn sand painting.

Works by He Lei

"At first I was self-taught sand painting. After coming to Chengdu in 2016, I found Han Jie and studied with Han Jie for a while in her miracle sand painting studio. "Sister Han" is Luo Han, one of the earliest sand painting performance artists engaged in the creation and research of sand painting art in China, and also the founder of color sand painting, before He Lei saw "Father's Shoulder", which is Luo Han's work. He Lei felt extremely lucky to be able to learn from the teacher who led him into the world of sand painting. Because when He Lei first expressed the idea of learning with Luo Han, he was once suggested that "if you practice for a while and come back, you will learn more." He Lei was not discouraged, and after concentrating on self-study for a year, he came to Luo Han's studio again and expressed his desire to learn, and then successfully visited the teacher. After the course, she stayed at miracle sand painting studio and began working as a sand painting assistant for more than a year.

In the process of learning sand painting, the experience of learning art from a young age has helped He Lei a lot. "For example, the structure of the painting, the effect of perspective, if there is a foundation in art, these contents will be more thoroughly understood." If not, I still need to make up these foundations in the process of learning sand painting," He Lei said frankly, "I also belong to the type of learning while making up." Although he began to study art from elementary school, and in junior high school and high school, he also studied mainly sketching and systematically, the creation of sand painting was still full of challenges for He Lei. He Lei introduced that the most challenging of these is the "transition" of sand painting.

"How painting and painting can be connected is the essence of sand painting." He Lei said that if the transition of the whole picture is done well and the texture of the sand is expressed, it may become a brilliant link in the entire video. "When the audience is watching, they never know what is going to happen in the next second, which is what they are curious about, and this is also the part of our sand painting performance that can carry the most personal style." He Lei himself prefers to use the switch between close-up and long-range to complete this link. Switching from a park in the city to a hot pot on the table, Chengdu's labels of "Park City" and "Spicy Taste" can all become figurative graphics, seamlessly connected under her hands, becoming a scene in the unpredictable "magical world".

The World Beyond the Drawing Board: Seeing the Extraordinary Things of ordinary people

From material arrangement, hand-drawn design, sand painting, recording, the entire process of sand painting creation, He Lei takes 7 to 10 days. In the past 10 days, it seems that He Lei only deals with sand, but in fact, the sand painting has brought her more than the square drawing board.

"After graduation, I went from school to another school as a teacher, without the experience of deeply observing the world. The quality of sand painting for storytelling has taught me about different stories in the world. In 2019, He Lei made a sand painting with the theme of "Cliff Village": "At that time, I learned that there was such a village, and there was such a group of children who had to walk so far and dangerous in order to go to school. "In 2020, He Lei explained and demonstrated sand painting to a group of gray-haired old people at a university for the elderly." Uncles and aunts in their sixties and seventies, they are a very cute group of people. Although they only paint simple landscapes and flowers, they don't understand the mental state of asking, and the kind of mental state of living to learn from old age makes me think about whether this should be the case when we are old. ”

He Lei participated in the university activities for the elderly

In the past 7 years of contact with sand painting, He Lei will not only use sand painting to tell stories, but also choose sand painting to record the big and small things happening around him. After the epidemic began, He Lei spontaneously recorded the stories of frontline anti-epidemic workers with sand paintings; He Lei's brother's wedding and the baby's birthday feast, He Lei would use sand paintings to participate in it. Sand painting has become a way for He Lei to participate in the world and express himself.

"Of course it's tense when performing. But as soon as I stand on the stage, as soon as the music starts and everyone quietly watches me draw, a sense of confidence will arise. He Lei has accepted invitations from many media to perform sand paintings, and has also taken this opportunity to see more extraordinary things about ordinary people.

Although sand painting is still a niche art, He Lei believes that the high ornamental and storytelling nature of sand painting will definitely make it recognized by the public. For myself, the current plan is to "draw every ordinary story around you as before, so that the sand painting can be seen by more people." ”