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Yang Xi, the representative figure of today's Suzuo jade carving process innovation and exploration, his works have a strong atmosphere of the times and a strong sense of modernity, while inheriting traditional craft techniques, combined with Chinese painting techniques and modern design concepts, created a new technique of "combination of virtual and real" jade carving, enriched the inner charm of jade carving, and gave Su Zuo jade carving a new life.
Yang Xi's works have strong characteristics of the times, while inheriting the tradition, he has created a new expression technique of jade carving, "combination of virtual and real", which makes jade carving works detach from craftsmanship and increases the sense of art. Representative works include "Bamboo", "Zhong Kui Exorcising Demons" and so on.
Zhong Kui exorcised the demon
"Ancient Rhyme" is based on the concept of graphic design, which recombines the ancient jade carving ornaments and round cases. At present, the works since this definition have become the mainstream of the "Su Gang".
Ancient rhymes
With solid art skills and comprehensive carving technology, Yang Xi has formed his own unique "Nanshi style": taking traditional themes and modern themes as the mainstream of design, characterized by simple shapes, smooth lines and distinct themes, and fully combining the art and culture of the East and the West perfectly.
Listen to incense
Lotus phase
Woman with pigeon
The traditional jade culture and "Su Bang" jade have made an extension and development of the times, and the graphic design concept can be read in many works, and more dots and lines are perfectly expressed in the works, such as "Buddha in the Heart" and "Jiangnan Water Town".
Jiangnan Water Town
Fang Nian
There are also many works that have created many new jade carving expression methods, such as the combination of the natural skin color of seed jade and carving, and the representative works include "Zhong Kui Removing Demons" and "Taoyuan Tu" Shanzi;
Using freehand techniques, the combination of virtual and real, through the "virtual" to express the "real" representative works such as "Bamboo", "Thousand Hands Guanyin", etc., the traditional concept that people think that jade carving is a craft rather than a work of art has made a new interpretation.
Senju Kannon
He has always maintained a keen sense of new visual expression and aesthetic orientation, elevating the inspiration from life to the artistic level, and finally transforming it into jade carving, using his own personalized and artistic jade carving language to interpret the new meaning of jade carving, and jade carving injects new artistic concepts and ideas.
His creative themes are rich, comprehensive, varied techniques, but also real and virtual, from the Guanyin series, the water town series, Jiangnan style, to today's ginkgo series, good at thinking and summarizing, running through the yang xi master's thoughts and personality, in the innovation of the aura, very artistic charm, but also gradually formed a certain degree of market recognition of the brand.
Sketch Gangnam series
Autumn Rain Gangnam Series
Collection of the British Museum
Ginkgo biloba series
To love
Pour heart
Leaves fall in autumn
Autumn rhymes
Yang Xi, from characters, landscapes, flowers and birds to three-dimensional sculpture, high relief carving, bas-relief, from the application of graphic design composition to the application of virtual and real combination, from the traditional dragon and lion themes to the auspicious ornaments that the people like to see, Yang Xi's jade carving theme is widely involved, the shape changes are great, and the richness of expression is breathtaking.
Flower God
I like to use the hollow carving method, without any sense of oppression, and there is no intention of sensationalism.
The development of artistic skills is inseparable from inheritance and innovation, the teacher tradition does not seek innovation, art is the same, there is no vitality to speak of, only seek innovation and not learn tradition, innovation is like water without a source.
"Shi Gu but not Mud Ancient" is Yang Xi's requirement for his own art. Innovation is inseparable from a deep foundation in art, but also inseparable from the dedicated art training, and these two points Yang Xi has both.
In the early years, Suzhou Arts and Crafts Professional School learned to practice his solid modeling ability, and the work experience of the jade carving factory in the planned economy era provided him with the possibility of immersing himself in jade carving, and the good combination of these two points made Yang Xi more comfortable in jade carving creation and innovation.
Yang Xi recalled that due to the spring breeze of reform and opening up, a large number of Hong Kong and Taiwan merchants came to the jade carving factory for trading, and for this reason, the jade carving factory also set up a special antique workshop. The antique workshop also creates economic benefits in the factory, while before that, the jade carving factory only produced traditional themes such as furnace bottles, characters, flowers and birds.
Yang Xi in the early 1980s
If it is said that he learned professional and theoretical knowledge about the consolidation of arts and crafts in the American school, then the 10 years in the jade carving factory have made Yang Xi no longer unfamiliar with the jade that the Chinese nation has been in awe of since ancient times. The accumulation and study of antique pieces makes his "careful thinking" of jade more handy. In 1992, Yang Xi established his own personal studio.
Loud sound
Yang Xi said, "In fact, from the stage of 92 to 2000, jade carving has been doing antiques, and the whole of Suzhou is doing it, including jade carving in other places." The phenomenon of "antique" in the country has driven the prosperity of jade carving on the one hand, and on the other hand, it has also limited the development of jade carving to a certain extent. Over the years, the amount of antique pieces in Hong Kong and Taiwan has been basically saturated, and Yang Xi, who realized this, began to reflect: how should jade carving be innovative?
time
Even with this awareness, the process of innovation is still painful. Yang Xi said that trying to break the "antique thinking" buried in his heart for more than ten years is painful, difficult, and there is no way to start. Until 2002, Yang Xi used the concept of graphic design to create traditional themes such as "Buddha in the Heart" and "Peace and Ruyi", although it is the shape of the brand, it is very different from the previous Zigang brand and antique brand.
The Buddha is in the heart
As a result, Yang Xi's path of innovation was opened. Based on this, he broke down and reorganized the various elements of each period, thus presenting an innovative jade carving that is between similar and non-similar. In 2005, Yang Xi designed "Ancient Rhymes", which may not be mature even now, but at that time it broke the deadlock.
Antique pieces are not pure copying, but can also be recreated, so that the elements are traditional, but the aesthetic is modern.
Lotus Flower Guanyin
Guan yin
In 2012, Yang Xi was rated as the representative inheritor of national intangible culture (Suzhou jade carving). Even so, Yang Xi did not stop his innovation. Since then, whether it is "Autumn Rain Jiangnan" with ginkgo as an element, or "Sketch Jiangnan" with sketching as a memory, or "Luohan Series" that returns to the original character pieces, they are all unexpected.
Borrowing elements from jade carving requires broader thinking, because thinking is very important for the creation of jade carving. Yang Xi said that body painting is a kind of modern performance art, and I also tried to borrow it from the creation of jade carving. The design sense of "Painted Life" is not very strong, but it is a manifestation of an element applied to creation.
Paint life
Later, "Fancy Years", as an extension of the art of body painting, deliberately strengthened the sense of design of the work. I made the human body into a flat hollow image, the painted elements were made into three-dimensional peony flowers, the selection of carving techniques, the yin and yang contrast of the carving level have full design components, reflecting my understanding of contemporary aesthetics.
Pattern annualization
Every time I go out to stay in a hotel, I am accustomed to observing the decoration design of the hotel and looking for the inspiration of the jade carving design brought to me by the excitement of each place. The work "Sketch Gangnam" is a case of elemental reference.
Yang Xi said that an excellent jade carving creator needs to have three conditions: art, design and skill. Fine art can convert two-dimensional into three-dimensional. If I see a line drawing, I can imagine the body, which provides convenience for the creation of jade carving, and it is easy to transform the flat composition into a body image.
Flowing movements
When it comes to design, we must mention "college jade carving". They brought in some innovative design ideas. However, I have seen that many academic jade carving works are mostly just transformations, not innovation. I once saw someone make a sculpture directly into a jade carving, which is a simple transformation, not a substantial innovation.
Ginkgo biloba • smoke green jade brand
Design has been integrated into all aspects of our lives, such as Nordic furniture, clothes, shoes and hats have added a lot of design, and the innovative creation of jade carving must also be based on design rather than just random conversion.
Violin brooch
Yang Xi
Yang Xi, born in the 1960s, graduated from Suzhou Arts and Crafts Professional School. He worked as a design and carving worker in Suzhou Jade Carving Factory. The work "Jingwei Reclamation" was awarded the Jade Carving Hundred Flowers Award. Judge of the 2007 "Tiangong Award". Jiangsu Province has made outstanding contributions to young and middle-aged colleges