Shaanxi Ku Shulan’s “Collage Paper-cutting”

Ku Shulan (1920-2004) was born in Xunyi County, Shaanxi Province. He was a talented paper-cutting art master who grew up in a difficult rural area. Her paper-cut works have won awards at the China Folk Art Exhibition, and she has held exhibitions and art seminars in Taiwan and Hong Kong. Wherever she went, she stirred up the craze of Eastern culture. Many of her works were collected by the National Art Museum of China.

In 1980, during a survey and investigation of the creative trends of folk paper-cutting artists in Xunyi County, Shaanxi Province, the art group of the county cultural center discovered the paper-cutting genius Ku Shulan. In the days that followed, Wen Weiqun often brought colored paper to Ku Shulan to stimulate her desire to create. Ku Shulan, on the other hand, felt like she had found a treasure, diving into her artistic world, cutting and singing whenever she had time, leaving all the hardships in real life behind. She never wastes a piece of paper. Paper and scissors fly in her hands. The world of artistic imagination and the fairyland that people long for all have her artistic footprints. The fairy is herself, the bride is herself, and the happiest and most beautiful person in the world is also herself. What is missing in real life is all found in her creations. The light in the cave was dark, so she cut a big light bulb and stuck it on the wall together with the sun and moon. She cut and pasted, and transformed her dilapidated cave dwelling into a treasured place like the Queen Mothers colorful Yaochi, where she herself was the owner. She forgot all the unhappiness in the world and enjoyed herself in the art palace she created. She decorated herself with the most beautiful art and posted it on the wall. She proudly announced to people: "Thats me - the flower-cutting lady!"< /p>

The "Flower-cutting Lady" is the idol worship of Ku Shulan in real life and the illusory god "Empress"; it is an intensifier of ones own life consciousness and a spiritual pillar to express inner emotions. The greatness and brilliance of Ku Shulan lies in the fact that she created a mythical world in the field of paper-cutting - a spiritual world that belongs to Ku Shulan: the image of a goddess wearing a phoenix crown and a harem, "mothers grace to the world" . She devoted herself wholeheartedly to the creation of paper-cutting, and fascinatedly showed all kinds of free and unrestrained flower-cutting ladies, some in the pavilion, and some in the kiln.In the cave, some are riding on horses, some are sitting in the garden, etc., all different.

Ku Shulan’s paper-cut creations and artistic sculptures are all folk conceptual shapes. The matching of colors is also an application of the five elements color concept of traditional folk art. Most of the works use techniques such as pasting, collage, and stacking of colored paper. The colors are bright and strong, the compositions are full and substantial, the shapes are strange, and they are full of tension and vitality. They are both traditional and generous, simple and gorgeous, forming a unique and novel paper-cutting art. The style is known as "Eastern Matisse".

In northern Shaanxi, paper-cutting and folk songs were inseparable sister arts. Ku Shulans paper-cutting creations were also inspired by these folk songs. She sings while cutting paper, as if this is where the most beautiful life lies. Each of her paper-cut patterns is accompanied by a beautiful folk song. Appreciating paper-cutting and folk songs side by side is like going to the Loess Plateau in person, listening to Ku Shulan singing folk songs and watching her paper-cutting.

On December 19, 2004, Ku Shulan, a master of Chinese folk arts and crafts, passed away quietly, just like a big tree falling in the forest. When it fell, it was still a piece of scenery. It didn’t matter whether he was alive or dead. Ku Shulan said about her life: "The darkness has become clear, the cloud has become clear, the food has been full, and the life has grown old." It doesn't matter about coming or going. In the days to come, there will still be a flower-cutting lady.