Shaanxi folk paper-cutting method of deeply exploring the inner space of objects
Exploring the underlying nature of things, or the secrets hidden on the surface, is the desire of human beings from beginning to end. I don’t know when our ancestors began to study anatomy. Among the neolithic painted pottery paintings of primitive art, there is a picture that looks very much like a human skeleton. We are willing to regard it as the earliest picture of our primitive ancestors' understanding of the internal structure of the human body. In the ritual decorations of the Bronze Age, the internal structure of the human body was patterned, perhaps to increase its aesthetic potential as a decorative pattern. Later, this kind of modeling expression of the deep inner understanding of objects appeared frequently in folk art, and more often in traditional paper-cutting based on modeling. Those skilled folk craftsmen undoubtedly inherited the persistent nature of human beings to pursue the truth of things, and their way of understanding can span all directions.
Example: "Passing Fireworks" by Wang Zhanlan of Ansai City, Shaanxi Province is a typical example. The anthropomorphic animal also contains a small animal inside, and there is a fire in the stool. The whole shape vividly illustrates peoples yearning for a prosperous and happy life full of children and grandchildren; the Taoist gourd is Tai Chi, and the concept of Tai Chi being divided into two and then merged into one is also derived from the concept of reproductive worship of the intersection of men and women and the reproduction of life. From a perspective point of view, the gourd contains the Fuxi female snail brother and sister who hid in the gourd to avoid the flood; a pear reveals the seeds in the center of the fruit, exactly like being cut open with a knife; and when showing fruits and vegetables, this cut is The blooming shape has almost become a common folk style; "Lotus seeds" are one of the common themes in Shaanxi. They have different shapes, usually the image of a pregnant child in the lotus, that is, the image of a baby in the center of the lotus, which can be called It is a "composite type" of lotus and doll. These images reflect the process of life gestation, budding and rebirth, showing the rich imagination and subtle insight of folk artists.
In the series of Lian nationality art, there are many "composite images" of "fish in lotus" or "fish body blooming in lotus". These images of fish and lotus, which are metaphors for the intercourse between men and women, are Shaanxi folk symbols.Folk life has a special understanding of the theme of "fish playing with lotus"; "Steaming Model" by Zhang Linzhao from Fuxian County, Shaanxi Province is a work showing himself cooking on the fire. When I asked Aunt Zhang how she could see something in the pot and bellows, she was very anxious, "I touched it myself and put it into the pot. How could I not know whether there was anything in the pot? What am I doing lighting a fire? Chicken feathers are tied inside the bellows, and those who repair the bellows have to clean them up every year. Without chicken feathers, how can the bellows blow out?"
Traditional paper-cutting artists rely on inferences from subjective experience to demonstrate phenomena that cannot be observed visually. Make the space construction break through the surface of the phenomenon and go deep into its interior, directly reflecting the essence and objective necessity of the object masked by the appearance.
