The embodiment of diligence and thrift in Chinese folk paper-cutting
In the old society, the living standards of farmers were very low, and their daily consumption levels were even more pitiful. They had a saying they always said: "The poor don't even have money to buy salt." Therefore, who can afford a whole piece of red paper to use for hanging flowers? It is enough to have waste paper for cutting and scissors. My grandma’s shoe sample folders included patterns made of writing paper, snack wrapping paper, and matchbox wrapping paper. They will treasure a piece of red paper and use it for a year or even longer, and will never waste it in large pieces. They were reluctant to throw away the slightly larger pieces of paper and put them to use in every possible way. Out of their cherishment of paper, they will make full use of every piece of paper in paper-cutting and cut out images of different sizes according to the shape of the paper according to local conditions. A work that reflects rural labor is obviously done using folding and shearing techniques. In the upper part of each equal section, the author cuts out a character carrying a load to deliver food along with the ladder-like paper shape, and also appropriately cuts out a water jug. If the character image above is cut smaller, it will not be easy to cut, and it will not be conducive to the vivid expression of the character form. Since the figures cut above account for two-thirds of an equal length, and the remaining one-third is in the shape of a fan, the author cleverly cut out a male rice transplanter who bends over and a female rice transplanter who stands upright with bent legs. , the two characters relax and complement each other. The back of the person who stoops is connected to the middle curve. After the work is cut and unfolded, the end points of the eight bent peoples feet and hands form a dotted trajectory, creating a sense of movement in the aesthetic vision. This sense of movement greatly attracts the attention of the aesthetician, making people not feel that the figures above are excessive. big. And because the space where the characters below are located is relatively large, the characters have a sense of downward momentum. This sense of momentum not only conforms to the working dynamics of the characters, but also further coordinates the visual differences in the shapes and sizes of the characters above and below, making the aesthetic vision comfortable. . This method of artistic modeling following the shape of the empty paper is called the application of "following the shape". The composition position of the grape tree and the grape bearer are also cleverly arranged: in the space outside the human figure, you can see How the author uses the "following shape" technique to cover the grapes and leaves. In order not to waste a piece of paper, the author cut out a curly-tailed guard dog on the empty paper in front of the basket. For another example, because the flower-cutters are rural women, they know best that animals play the main role in the farm work. Therefore, the author first cuts out the sulfur related to livestock and the threshing field, and then lays out the harvested crops in the lower space, and then Cut out the figures of the fighting figures in the upper part, and then follow the shape of the last remaining empty paper to cut out a three-pronged fork for turning over the playing field and a wooden shovel for lifting the playing field. The people in the fighting field and the animals echo each other, and the image is ready to come out, and the picture is compact and theme. protrude.
Through observation, we will find that in the above three paper-cuts, there is a big difference between the proportions of artistic images and the proportions of objective natural forms. This difference is commonly found in the formal expression of folk paper-cuts, which has become a Chinese An obvious feature of folk paper-cutting art. From this feature, we can realize that rural womens paper-cut creations are not restricted by the connection between objective natural objects and their respective objective image characteristics and expressions. This artistic thinking concept gives them great freedom in the artistic practice of paper-cutting. From this, they can put the content they want to express wherever they want without wasting paper. When we watched rural women cutting flowers on the spot, we found that when they made some mistakes in cutting, they were able to make new changes. Their ability is the result of long-term practice of "following the shape". Making mistakes here is actually "following the shape".
