After 85 Korean girl Kim Xiuchen,
Since childhood, I have loved to watch Chinese martial arts movies.
She ignored her parents' objections,
When I was in high school, I came to China to study.
Later, I became obsessed with papermaking.
Four years after graduating from Tsinghua University,
She took the first floor of an old public house in Shanghai,
Transformed into a paper studio,
Studying in it every day,
How to make beautiful works of art out of paper,
Won many international awards.
"Emotion Muscles and Rationale"
Sunrise
She creates with a beautiful black series,
to commemorate their own 34 years old;
And hung another black series of works "Sunrise" in the studio,
Friends who came to visit felt very relieved when they saw it.
Jin Xiuchen said: "In the past 18 years,
My teachers and friends gave me full of love,
I want to give back to more people what I have learned here. ”
Self-description Jin Xiuchen
Edited by Shao Qinyun, Editor-in-charge deng Kailei
My name is Jin Xiuchen, I am from South Korea, I came to China to study in high school, and I have lived in China for 18 years. I do design work and also do artistic creation through papermaking.
Koreans also learn Chinese characters, and chinese character names and Korean character names are taken at the same time, and my father specially chose the "embroidery" of "embroidery" and the "chen" of "stars", which means to embroider stars in the sky.
I didn't expect that the name also contained the meaning of staying up late, so I often joked with my friends that now I am a designer who needs to stay up late every day, and my father named it right.
Jin Xiuchen's family of three
When I was a child, South Korea celebrated the New Year's Festival, and Chinese movies and TV series were often played on TV, and I especially loved to watch Jin Yong's martial arts movies, and "Huan Zhu Gege" was also very popular at that time, so I liked Su Youpeng and joined his Korean fan group.
My childhood dream was clear: I wanted to be an advertising designer. The idea at that time was very simple, China is so big, I want more people to see my works, so I want to go to China.
But my parents always wanted me to study in the United States, so I began to secretly learn Chinese. Although the 4 tones of Chinese cannot be taught by themselves, I think it is certainly useful to memorize a little word first. So I bought some Chinese textbooks, arrived at school an hour early every morning, and slowly began to study on my own.
When my parents were ready to send me to the United States, I cried for three days and three nights, did not eat or drink, and they could not do anything about me, and finally I was persuaded to agree to let me go to China to study.
I went to high school in Beijing and made the best friend of my life
I studied Chinese in Korea for a year and felt that I could communicate freely. But after arriving in China, I was very confused and didn't know what to say
I was in high school at an art school in Beijing, and in the first week of my arrival, I didn't say a word, and when I said Chinese, my classmates were frightened by me.
I listen to what others say and think about how words should be combined. After a week, my mind relaxed. My classmates were very enthusiastic and patiently taught me. I made one of the best friends of my life in high school.
Now when I encounter something, the first thing I think of is to contact my high school classmates, who are my family in China. When I was with them, I was the happiest, the most open-minded, forgetting that I was a foreigner.
"Word Chess" Wood Chess Part "Word Chess" Wood Chess Part
As an undergraduate, I studied in the Department of Decorative Arts and Design at Tsinghua University. Many high school classmates ask me, why is korean characters so many lines and squares gathered together? I simply answered their doubts into my graduation project at Tsinghua University.
This work is called "Word Chess", which is a small game to give everyone a better understanding of the composition of the Korean language. I also designed the instruction manual to look like a hanbok.
Text Chess Instruction Manual
Obsessed with papermaking:
Watching the pulp drift in the water, the heart is calm
I'm interested in papermaking because of a piece of paper. I like to visit various stationery stores, and one day I stumbled upon a piece of paper, one side is white, the other side is blue, and the white part is mixed with fine particles.
Jin Xiuchen was interested in papermaking because of a piece of paper
Looking at that piece of paper was like seeing a piece of sky and sand, I was completely fascinated, why can there be two colors in a piece of paper? In the middle of the two colors, the place where the fibers are interspersed is particularly beautiful, how is this done?
Group photo of Jin Xiuchen and teacher Lu Jingren
So when I was a graduate student at Tsinghua University, I chose to study paper art. My graduate supervisor is Mr. Lu Jingren, who is an expert in book binding and book design.
Teacher Lu really took care of me like my parents, and when I was about to do the graduation project, Teacher Lu sent me to the paper mill and let me learn papermaking directly from the craftsmen.
On the first day of learning to make paper, I will never forget the picture of the pulp floating in the water. Later, every time I was upset, I would make a piece of paper in the studio and watch the pulp drift in the water, and my heart would be calm. Papermaking is really charming.
Photographed on the first day of jin xiuchen learning papermaking
To make a piece of paper, the ordinary process includes so many steps: dipping, cooking, washing, chopping, mortar, slotting, fishing paper, pressing, and drying. I love the process of grooving and seeing the ingredients put into the sink, like clouds, beautiful.
After learning some basic craftsmanship, I began to explore on my own. The masters of the paper mill gave me a lot of guidance and support, they have been in this business for decades, and I know that I cannot reach their level of craftsmanship. I hope to integrate the craft of papermaking into the creation of art.
Combine papermaking with art to commemorate your 34th birthday
Four years ago, I moved to Shanghai and a friend lent me the first floor of an old public house in the city center.
I built it into a small, integrated creative studio. In addition to papermaking, screen printing, marbling, letterpress, and other handicrafts can all be done here. Many friends in the design and art industries will also come to me to experience papermaking and create their own works.
I'm a person who doesn't like to watch Korean dramas very much, and I'm afraid that watching Korean dramas will affect my accent Chinese. Because of the reason of studying in Beijing, I like to listen to the cross-talk of Guo Degang and Zhang Yunlei of the Deyun Society. When I first moved to Shanghai, I still had a Beijing accent.
In my studio in Shanghai, I had more conditions to make art out of paper.
The white series of works, titled "Emotional Muscle, LiXu", is the result of my own research in the process of papermaking, and was shortlisted for the 8th International Fiber Art Biennale in 2014.
There are many textures in life that we ignore, and textures give people visual and tactile feelings that vary from person to person. The process of just making paper can reflect different textures.
The works in the White series are interactive. Changes in color, color temperature, and lighting will produce different visual effects. You can touch, switch between different lights, and feel different emotions.
"Wood Song"
The first work in the black series was called "Wood Song".
When I first came into contact with this kind of paper, I felt that it had the texture of wood. I thought, if wood had ears, would it hear a lot of sounds? If it hears a lot of sounds, will it want to sing on its own? And then I made the whole picture spiral.
34 Square Meters is a work I've been working on in a black series recently.
After 32 years old, I forgot my age, and one day I suddenly thought that I was 34 years old, like thunder, and recalled a lot of things about the number 34.
My second aunt left us at the age of 34 with cancer. When I was a child, I wrote a poem to remember her, one of which was "The second aunt is only 34 years old, leaving a son, can you be willing?" ”
A few years later, my sister-in-law was married at the age of 34. Unexpectedly, in the blink of an eye, I had reached the age of my second aunt and younger aunt. I would also like to commemorate my 34 years old.
The height of this work is as high as my height, 1 meter 63, and the width is 34 centimeters. There will be two boxes, making the appearance of one door, because 34 for me, is life into another door.
The work "Sunrise" is completely made unintentionally in a state of empty brain.
This picture is like the sunrise on the sea in the morning, the sun sprinkling on the water, the sparkling scenery. I hung it straight inside the studio. Seeing my Sunrise is like looking at the sea and being able to forget your troubles.
"Paper Na"
In 2019, at the invitation of the Shenzhen Academy of Painting, I was inspired by the ascetic monk's hundred robes and made a robe work out of paper , "Paper Na".
The work won the bronze medal at the 11th International Fiber Art Biennale in 2020. At that time, I specifically found a student sister from the Clothing Department to help me make a copy first, and then at the Scene of the Shenzhen Painting Academy, after four or five days of overtime work, it was completed overnight.
Part of "Paper Na"
The hundred garments reflect the frugal life of some monks, and when the clothes are torn, they are made up with other cloths, which also reflects their practice process.
Papermaking itself is as hard as practicing. I deliberately used a down-water paper, and the natural hollowness and rough hemp fibers on the paper echoed the characteristics of the bailu coat. The tail of the robe is 9 meters long, representing the practice and practice of life.
The paper itself has a temperature, and I want to use it to convey emotions
Of The four great inventions of China, paper is one of them. China invented papermaking, which spread around the world and evolved.
Without paper, our culture, history, and life would not have been able to be passed down. However, few people have been exposed to papermaking and can know the specific process of papermaking.
Dongba paper of the Naxi ethnic group, rice paper from Anhui, Japanese washi paper, Korean paper from Korea, cotton paper for European printmaking... The environment and conditions of each country and region are different, so the paper produced is also different, and the types of paper are really unimaginable.
Paper made in winter is better, but making paper in winter is more painful, and it takes a little perseverance to put your hand into the cold water again and again.
There are many difficulties in papermaking, from the processing of pre-materials to the later processing, there are many invisible processes in it, and a piece of paper is really hard-won in everyone's hands.
It's the age of digitalization, and everyone keeps their heads down at their phones. But before the invention of the mobile phone, everyone also conveyed their feelings by writing letters.
When you are a child, collecting the old money and getting it in your hand will make people remember which elder gave it. The paper itself is very warm.
When I do design, I also give priority to what kind of paper to use, and the texture of the paper is very important.
I often go to colleges, art galleries, museums and other institutions to teach people how to make paper, and I feel obligated to try to spread the charm of papermaking. I hope that everyone will not forget the traditions left by our ancestors and the warmth that traditions have brought to us.
In the past 18 years of living in China, teachers and friends have given me a lot of love, which is difficult to measure in money. Giving back to more people what I learned in China is also a way to repay the teachers and friends around me.
Photo courtesy of: Jin Xiuchen