"Traditional handmade jewelers should not limit themselves to jewelry designers or jewelers, because every time you create, your fingertips experience the rise and fall of the sun and the moon for a thousand years, a journey through Chinese culture, and an experience of renewing Chinese culture."
01 Ancient is the soul of the present, the source of art
I was born into a traditional cultural family and have been influenced by traditional culture since I was a child. When I was a child, I saw a phoenix crown in the museum with my family, which was exquisite and luxurious. After hearing the narrator's introduction, I learned that behind the phoenix crowns of thousands of pearls, there is a graceful and luxurious past. Since then, I have been impressed by the charm of traditional jewelry with both cultural and artistic beauty, and began the road to traditional jewelry inheritance. I read the traces of Chinese culture engraved on the jewelry from the traditional court jewelry making process, and the filigree inlay process in the traditional jewelry has gone through thousands of years of wind and rain baptism, revealing a thicker and more gorgeous style. What the eye sees is the beauty of the appearance of a work of art, and what is richer is the social and humanistic value and aesthetic value within it.
Filigree inlaid with a crane collar
"With the art of the present, inherit the soul of the past", I hope to restore the prosperity of the golden years for the world by recreating the inheritance of traditional jewelry artworks. It was with this concept in mind that I began to try to learn the traditional handicrafts that flourished in the Ming and Qing dynasties, such as filigree, engraving, and diancui craftsmanship (now diancui craft materials are non-protected bird feathers), and applied them to works. I am convinced that there is no inheritance of tradition, and the so-called "innovation" can only be a wood without roots. The art created by ancient artists is extremely vital and is still an inexhaustible source today. At the same time, they are also on top of the cultural inheritance, through the re-creation of the thick culture and young life collision, so as to burst out of the endless, endless surprises.
Restoration of the Qing Dynasty court ice crack plum pattern gold bracelet
Handmade is the soul of my creation. Adhering to the development and inheritance of traditional Chinese culture and intangible culture, my team and I have completed the restoration of the first paper tire point Cui Tuan fan in China and the first Qing Dynasty Seven Phoenix Phoenix. Committed to combining traditional culture with the current aesthetics, integrating the aesthetic culture of Western jewelry, combining traditional beating techniques to create a three-dimensional point jade process, breaking the limitations of ancient point green can only be applied to flat jewelry, so that this unique charm of the blue can show its beauty in multiple dimensions.
02 Ancient is beautiful, design and reconstruction
I never define "intangible cultural heritage" only as inheritance, and I believe that "intangible cultural heritage" should be integrated into modern "design". A glass vessel, an embroidery, a blue-dyed garment, or a piece of jewelry are all "things." Objects are the carriers of the spirit and value of traditional handicrafts, and are the reference objects for people today to pursue quality and taste of life. Things have different forms in different times. Design is the redefinition of things, so that they are always full of fun in different eras. "Do not leave the daily use of the usual line, until the congenital before the painting", this is a poem in the Song Dynasty philosopher Wang Yangming's "Farewell to All Lives", and it is also a definition of "things". However, it is a pity that jewelry is still a "temple" thing in most people's minds. I hope that by "designing" jewelry, more young people will like traditional craftsmanship. By reproducing the Chinese phoenix crown of the Ming and Qing dynasties, it leads ordinary people to see rare and precious collections, and lets them "fly into the homes of ordinary people".
Brooch of the golden silk Arowana
Traditional Chinese jewelry undoubtedly has an incomparable artistic charm. Necklaces, bracelets, brooches and other jewelry made of traditional craftsmanship that are full of life and style can be more quickly accepted by the public, inlaid with natural gemstones and incomparably exquisite filigree craftsmanship, which reflects the grace and luxury of Chinese women in a low-key and restrained manner. But what cannot be missed in many works is the Chinese phoenix crown, which skillfully integrates traditional Chinese techniques with modern concepts, and is a new style of jewelry that belongs to China alone. The Phoenix Crown Xia Shuai has a history of nearly a thousand years in China, with the traditional phoenix crown as the medium, responding to the East and west, ancient and modern. The phoenix crown originated from the Song Dynasty, and was enshrined in the official uniform system in the Song Dynasty, and was worn by empresses, princesses, etc. In the Ming Dynasty, the phoenix crown was inherited and developed and stereotyped as worn by the wife of the pin official, becoming one of the most distinctive crown hats for women in the Ming Dynasty. In the Ming and Qing dynasties, the phoenix crown was used as a ceremonial crown by the Han women and flowed into the folk. In terms of form, the ming dynasty first-class phoenix crown is roughly composed of filigree, dot green, various pearl gemstones, crown tires and so on. In terms of physical objects, the imperial crown of the qing dynasty concubines is quite different from the phoenix crown of the Song Ming. As for the details of decoration, such as decoration with golden phoenix, golden zhai, precious stones, pearls, etc., there are many similarities.
In "The Biography of Zhen Huan", the concubine niangniang who spoiled the sixth palace, on the luxurious bun, a touch of beautiful filigree inlay was like the floating light phantom of the water of Yoyo Lake, Gu Panshenghui, that is, the use of filigree inlay, dot cui craftsmanship. Women have been gorgeous colors since ancient times, and court women and rich families are very fond of filigree inlaid ornaments. Filigree inlays and heavy industry-made Chinese phoenix crowns also decorate the brilliance of modern women's sideburns. My team and I are following the historical context to explore the ultimate meaning of the beauty of jewelry, such as the Nine Dragons and Nine Phoenix Crowns of the Ming Dynasty, the Great Wedding Phoenix of the Qing Dynasty, and the Qianlong Han Concubine Crown of the Qianlong Han Dynasty in the middle of the Qing Dynasty.
03 Ancient is now joyful, with unique ingenuity
"Qiao" is a shape and sound character, "Qiao" originally means "the object is high and the upper end is round", it is translated as an abstract "rainbow bridge", and it is also interpreted as "people who live across borders, people who often cross borders". "Color" is the color of the meaning, the color, the color of jewelry, and the color of filigree inlay. It indicates that in addition to having superb skills and clever inspiration, arts and crafts artists also need to have the ability to "cross over" adventures. Not only focusing on traditional ornaments, but also the aesthetics of contemporary people, so that the roots of tradition can sprout new shoots.
"New System: Nine Dragons and Nine Phoenix Crowns in the Year of the Apocalypse of the Ming Dynasty"
Among the many filigree inlaid works, the one that has devoted the most effort is "The New Ming Dynasty Apocalypse Year Nine Dragons and Nine Phoenix Crowns". This is a phoenix crown based on the highest standard ceremonial crown of the Ming Dynasty, which integrates modern aesthetic concepts and recreates it. The golden dragon on the crown is made of full reeling process, which is vivid and delicate. The filigree inlay process is complex, which can be roughly divided into pinching, filling, saving and piling, and this Kowloon Nine Phoenix Crown blends together through the ingenuity and skill of the designer to present a dignified and majestic ceremonial vessel. The process of filigree inlay is very complicated, pulling the gold into a hair-thin, weaving, stacking, extremely testing eyesight, hand and heart.
The "New Ming Dynasty Apocalypse Year Nine Dragons and Nine Phoenix Crowns" took nearly two years to make. Lacquered green silk bottom tire, inlaid with nine golden silk dragons and nine jade phoenixes, with multi-layered green clouds, foot gold beast head three layers of bo sideburns, inlaid with nearly 10,000 pearls and Ming and Qing red sapphires, crown top inlaid with a 20 carat ruby ruby tourmaline and 14 mm old pearl, the process is complicated, the use of materials. The dragon rises from Kyushu to be angry, the phoenix dances with the clouds, and the wearer does not show his dignity.
Based on my understanding of traditional Chinese culture, I often combine cultural elements and works organically in my creations, so that artworks reflect the color of traditional culture. The appreciation and intoxication of traditional handicraft art, the exchange and collision of works of art – the answer can be obtained in every creation. A pair of earrings can be a whole Suzhou garden, a small window, and a dressing. A brooch can be a delicate and undefeated flower, maybe it's a green lotus, it's maybe it's an ice-cold magnolia. The dot-green decoration on the crown of a phoenix, perhaps the sky blue after the rain, is the blue of warm jade and smoke. The use of pearlescent jade, the brilliant and colorful color pairings are all borrowed one by one, inadvertently chanting endless tunes.
04 Accumulate sages for the Tao, carry forward the inheritance of the national essence
Ji Xian is the Tao, and I hope to use this as a platform, "to carry forward the national essence of overseas Chinese color as my mission, to revive and flourish the Chinese overseas Chinese color art as the mission", and to create a high-end art exchange platform based on collections, master works and traditional skills. "Ancient for the present, with tradition as the root, combined with the aesthetics of today's society to create" is my concept that has always run through, adhering to the belief of inheritance and development of intangible cultural heritage, I and the craftsmen look forward to writing new wonderful for Chinese fine jewelry. Looking forward to innovation on top of integration, so that traditional skills present multi-dimensional beauty and three-dimensional brilliance, so that its never faded Chinese blue exudes the moving charm of beauty in the contemporary era.
"Reproduction of the Qing Dynasty Court Wedding Phoenix"
In addition to the rich and diverse use of materials, we have also tried a lot in color matching. "Reproduction of the Qing Dynasty Court Wedding Fengdian" is the Qing Dynasty Empress Great Wedding Fengdian, which was worn by the Guangxu Emperor when she wore a jifu. The tungsten is wrapped in cyan satin and woven into a net, and the upper ring of the tungsten is cut out with an ancient coin pattern, lined with red velvet. The mouth is decorated with golden phoenix six, and the tail is decorated with golden phoenix five, and all mouths are decorated with various strings of jewelry stones.
"Seven Phoenix Double Dragon Play Pearl Peony RecePtacle Crown"
The "Seven Phoenix Double Dragon Play Pearl Peony Lotus Crown", which is based on the Qianlong Han Concubine Ceremonial Crown in the middle of the Qing Dynasty, aims to create the first phoenix crown in China, which costs a lot of money. Nearly 5,000 man-hours continued to be built, nearly 30 people participated in it, and dozens of large and small processes such as filigree, wire filling, filigree, and engraving, gilding, and dotting were finally completed. Wearing this phoenix crown, the beautiful scene came to the face, "In the sun, moon, and stars, her golden steps swayed and wrapped around the golden streamers, and the golden branches and leaves fell and rippled; between the endless galaxies, following her footprints, I saw one step at a time." ”