The influence of commercial interests on Chinese folk paper-cutting
Folk paper-cutting artists were mostly men at first. Choosing handmade production of paper-cut patterns shows that they love this industry ideologically and have a certain understanding of its development and prospects. It also shows that they are careful and capable in character, have the tenacity to study, and are enterprising. This is the guarantee that they can achieve success in the commercialization of paper-cut art through their efforts. Paper-cutting artists know that in order to sell well, the patterns must meet the needs of rural working women and must be beautiful not only in terms of craftsmanship but also in form. They pay attention to observing and figuring out womens psychology in their commercial operations, and pay attention to making their works cater to womens aesthetic needs. Men often have a clearer and more accurate understanding of womens common personalities than women do. From womens many aesthetic habits, they find that womens love for beautiful things is the main aesthetic feature. This kind of beauty is also a mans understanding of womens personality. In the past, women in mens minds were the sum of good qualities such as virtuousness, gentleness, kindness, diligence and thrift. The beauty of these personalities contains beauty. Folk paper-cutting artists summarize their understanding of female aesthetics and their own understanding of women into the "beauty" of their works. This ideological concept enables them to use their skilled cutting skills and techniques to create a variety of graceful curves in formal expression, and to make them as regular, well-proportioned and graceful as possible. The form of paper-cut art. In their artistic scenes, they are the incarnation of women. The expression of "beautiful" art form of paper-cutting has become their lyrical expression of female beauty. It is not difficult to make such a judgment by looking at the gloriously blooming flowers, the winding vines and the branches and leaves of Granny Tingjian in their works.
The use of curves by folk paper-cutting artists is in sharp contrast to the more straight lines used by rural women when cutting flowers. The pursuit of feminine beauty by folk artists is not inconsistent with the pursuit of masculinity by women. As mentioned earlier, womens pursuit of masculinity is inspired by their emotions for their husbands and is reflected in their works. Therefore, they will not psychologically reject the "beautiful" artistic expression of male artists. No matter how women express their pursuit of masculinity, they can be understood and supported by the working women group.. Because in their group understanding, the pursuit of masculinity is a common psychological need.
Through the tacit understanding and communication between folk paper-cutting artists and rural women through commercialized paper-cutting, they have strengthened their pursuit of feminine beauty. At the same time, they also pay attention to absorbing the advantages of womens patterns to enrich themselves, so that the feminine style does not lose Bodybuilding makes the paper-cuts of folk paper-cut artists more popular among working women. Among the folk paper-cutting artists, many maintain the habit of using large scissors. The techniques they create in using large scissors are easily recognized and can be used for reference and learning by women. This is another reason why the works of folk paper-cutting artists are so popular. One aspect. Folk paper-cut artists in Piaoxiang Village often have to cut patterns on the spot according to the needs of customers. The artists' skillful cutting skills and methods of processing patterns will have a great impact on the women who also use large scissors. This influence will also leave traces in their paper-cut styles.
The ultimate goal of commercial operations is to make profits, and folk paper-cutting artists cannot avoid this problem in the commercialization of paper-cutting patterns. The moment folk paper-cutting artists emerged, they moved from rural areas to cities to engage in commercial operations with this purpose in mind. Driven by profits and difficult market competition, some people return to the countryside and adopt the business method of traveling from village to village. "Integrity" is the foundation of business operations. Guaranteeing product quality and the lowest possible price to customers is the guarantee of success. Folk paper-cutting artists naturally follow this. They cannot and cannot lower the quality of their goods. When shoddy and unpopular designs cannot be sold, all labor and efforts are in vain, which is undoubtedly a way out. There is very little room for fluctuation in the price of a pattern. For folk paper-cutting artists, improving the production efficiency per unit time becomes the only option. How to cut faster and more in the same time is an important issue facing folk paper-cutting artists.
Another method adopted by folk paper-cutting artists is to save "work" and increase the production volume of one production. The thick paper layer makes it difficult to cut, and even if you try to cut it out, the effect is not ideal. Some artists try to use knives to carve, and the number of patterns they can carve at one time has been greatly improved. The thickness of the multi-layer paper also restricted the engraving knife, and the blade was not as flexible as scissors. Therefore, in the early stage of paper engraving, "the knife work was rough and the character shape was not accurate enough", and there were many traces of paper cutting. During this period, trimming the line with a large curvature becomes difficult. Some artists take advantage of the slope to reduce the curvature and length of the curved lines, so that the paper engraving develops a style characterized by "face". "Cut out" has become the advantage of engraving paper, and the increase in connecting points and surfaces has become a major feature of engraving paper. On the basis of this advantage, the Yinxian modeling method is fully utilized and developed. The use of special-shaped knives makes the production of engraving paper further show a trend of programming, which not only saves work, but also standardizes the shape. some superbPaper engraving artists have mastered the skills of carving curves after hard training. Each work will be arranged with two to three "eating" lines to show their talent. Although the carved lines are not as smooth and stretched as the cut lines, they are still beautiful. Carving paper is made on a carving board. The flat paper is easy to operate. Artists with a certain level can carve extremely fine lines. The dense thin lines are like a gray color, which increases the visual layering of the work and makes the carving paper fine. change. This fine style was sold far away with small profits and had an impact on the skilled craftsmen in rural areas. Some of the fine paper-cutting styles in the north have a lot to do with these carvings. Most of them are adjacent to or local areas with higher paper-cutting standards. There is engraved paper. According to the materials I came into contact with, most of the paper engravings were famous and prosperous along the early railway lines, and the artistic level was also high, such as Zhao Jing'an in Sanhe, Hebei, Wang Laoshang, Yuxian, Hebei, Wang Wenyu, Kaifeng, Henan, and Jiang Jiang in Wuhan, Hubei along the Beijing-Guangzhou line. Zaipu, Hunan Xiangxi Huang Kaotian, etc.
