Biography
Shi Ting, a native of Qingyang Town, Gansu Province, currently lives in Lanzhou. Deputy Senior Paper-cutting Artist; Member of China Folk Writers Association; Member of Gansu Provincial Artists Association; Deputy Director and Secretary-General of Paper-cutting Art Research Center of Gansu Folk Writers Association, Member of Gansu Folk Writers Association; Member of Gansu Arts and Crafts Artists Association; Member of Lanzhou Cultural Friendship Association; Member of Paper-cutting Art Committee of Chinese Culture Promotion Association. In 2010, he began to teach at the Lanzhou International Exchange Center and the Hanshuo Research Center, and then taught in the Municipal Women's Federation, the Disabled Persons' Federation, and many primary and secondary schools in the city. His works have won many awards inside and outside the province and have been collected and published many times. In January 2018, with the support of the Gansu Provincial Federation of Literature and Literature and the Gansu Provincial People's Association, as a curator, he held the "2018 Ten Fine Exhibitions of Folk Customs, Folk Rhymes, and Populist Gansu Paper-cutting Art".
When she arrived at Sting's house, she was cutting paper at her desk. Scissors fluttered in her hands, confetti fell, and soon the prototype of the Winter Paralympic mascot Snow Rongrong appeared. Pausing on the creation in her hand, Sting recounted her experience of creating works for the Winter Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, as well as her story with paper-cutting.
In Sting's home, paper-cut works can be seen everywhere, and the works of ice piers and snow rongrong are the "protagonists" among them. Looking closely, Shi Ting's Xue Rongrong is different, because she has integrated Gansu elements into Xue Rongrong. Shi Ting told reporters: "After the successful bid for the Winter Olympics and The Winter Paralympic Games, the whole country celebrated, and I also received information that a national paper-cutting exhibition with the theme of the Winter Olympics will be held, in order to cheer for the Winter Olympics and the Winter Paralympic Games, I created two works with the emblems of the two events as the theme. With the holding of the Winter Olympics, the ice piers and snow melting are very popular, and I have the idea of continuing to create, so I have recently created a lot of ice piers and snow melting works. Many people cut the ice pier, snow rongrong are ordinary cutting method, Dunhuang is the cultural symbol of Gansu, I thought of using the elements of Dunhuang to make the snow rong more beautiful. So he conceived of the snow rong that integrated into the elements of Dunhuang. I first cut out a monochromatic snow Rongrong, but I felt that the single red could not reflect the connotation of Dunhuang, and I made a second creation, and the streamers, lotus flowers, and headdresses on Xue Rongrong's body were processed in a dyeing way. After making it, I showed it to my friends, and everyone liked it very much, which also increased my confidence. Through these works, I also use my way to send a blessing to the Winter Olympic Games and the Winter Paralympic Games. ”
Qingyang paper-cutting, with a long history, a wide variety of materials, rich and colorful contents, is unique compared with similar folk paper-cutting in China. Shi Ting was born in this land, she learned paper-cutting from her grandmother, grandmother and mother since she was a child, and she also deeply loved this skill. Shi Ting recalled: "When I was a student, I always insisted on paper cutting, and when the school engaged in activities or ran a board newspaper, I would participate in it with paper cutting. I still remember that in 1986, I participated in a paper-cutting competition with Qi Xiumei, a master of Paper-cutting in Qingyang, which gave me the privilege of getting to know my teacher Qi Xiumei and learning paper-cutting with her. I've always loved paper-cutting, always with a pair of small scissors in my pocket, and I cut paper whenever I have time. ”
In 1989, there were Lanzhou enterprises to Qingyang to recruit workers, Shi Ting came to Lanzhou with the desire to develop again in the paper-cutting, but the paper-cutting in Qingyang was very cold in Lanzhou, and there were very few people engaged in paper-cutting, and Shi Ting could only work while cutting paper, and she did not want to give up the art she loved. To this end, she also contributed to many media articles, wanting to show her paper-cutting works and let more people know about paper-cutting. Although there are twists and turns, But Shi Ting's love for paper-cutting has never decreased, and more people in the society have begun to understand Shi Ting and her paper-cutting, in 2010 she taught paper-cutting at the Lanzhou International Exchange Center and Hanshuo Research Center, which also opened the way for her paper-cutting inheritance. After 2012, she has taught in many schools in Lanzhou, such as major, middle and primary schools, and is now hired as an external teacher by Lanzhou Vocational and Technical College, and as a teacher by the Auxiliary Education Center of Longyuan Qiao hand creative culture demonstration park of the Future Sifang Group.
Shi Ting told reporters: "When my daughter was young, she watched from the side as soon as I cut the paper. I remember once I took her to the bookstore, found a paper-cut book and bought it back, after which I rested for a while, and when I woke up, I saw that she had cut a lot of small works according to the book. I hadn't taught her systematically before, but she also cut very well, she was talented, so I started teaching her how to cut paper. Teaching my daughter to cut paper is only a microcosm of my inheritance of paper-cutting skills, because I have always believed that the traditional art of paper-cutting is a treasure of the mainland, and we craftsmen must pass it on, otherwise in a few years, people will not understand these traditional Chinese cultures. Therefore, inheritance is a responsibility and mission for those of us craftsmen. ”
In Shi Ting's view, inheriting the art of paper-cutting is not to use the printer to copy some works for everyone to cut, but to start from the source, history, development, etc. of paper-cutting, and truly pass on the art of paper-cutting. Although Shi Ting has loved paper-cutting since childhood, the old man in the family and Teacher Qi Xiumei have not talked much about the origin, history and development of paper-cutting. In order to make up for these shortcomings, Shi Ting began to study continuously, in 2016 and 2017 she participated in the "China Intangible Cultural Heritage Inheritance Population Training Program" training class and the "China Intangible Cultural Heritage Inheritance Population Advanced Training Program" training course held at Northwest University for Nationalities, and in 2018 she participated in the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the Ministry of Education's Intangible Culture Crowd Training Program Lanzhou Jiaotong University Silk Road Dyeing Valerian Training Class Training Course. Continuous learning has allowed Shi Ting to make great progress in theory and skills. Shi Ting told reporters: "As a craftsman, there were no conditions before, and now we must make up for the lesson of history, because the history of paper-cutting is very helpful to us to create paper-cut works now, history and creation are complementary, only if you master and understand traditional things, then you can talk about innovation." If you can't even master traditional things, then how can the cut-out works have a soul? I have been teaching paper-cutting for more than ten years, teaching students all start from the historical development of paper-cutting, but also tell them the main elements of paper-cutting, etc., only by letting them understand these, can they start to design, create, so that they can truly understand and master the art of paper-cutting. ”
Not only studying history, but also in the development of the technique itself, Shi Ting did not stop, in her words: "The master leads the door to practice in the individual." "Shi Ting is a student of Qi Xiumei, so her style of work also inherits the characteristics of Qi Xiumei, but Shi Ting always believes that what the teacher teaches the students is only some basic skills, and if individuals want to go on, they must innovate and make breakthroughs in such basic skills and find their own style." Shi Ting told reporters: "The traditional paper-cutting is to cut a window flower, cut a small animal, etc., are very simple works, but now we do a lot of themed, and large-scale paper-cutting works, which is caused by the development of the times on the demand for paper-cutting art, we as craftsmen must also keep up with the pace of the times." However, while innovating, it is even more important not to lose traditional things, and only by combining tradition and innovation can we create works with connotation and modernity. ”
In the innovation of paper-cutting technology, Shi Ting has made many attempts and has also achieved great gains. Qingyang's paper-cutting has always been rough and heroic, and Shi Ting's works have become exquisite and delicate through continuous changes, such as the serrated pattern in the paper-cutting, although it is not created by Sting, but the serrated pattern she cut is unique, especially in some large-scale works, which is an innovation made by Sting in traditional skills. Speaking of innovation, Sting said: "In my opinion, the innovation of paper-cutting is not only limited to the breakthrough of the paper-cutting itself, but also can be integrated into the art of paper-cutting in many aspects. Sometimes I see some decorations or wine bottles outside with paper-cut patterns, and I will buy them back to study, which in my opinion is also a direction for breakthroughs in paper-cutting art. In 2016, when I was studying at the University of Minzu, I printed the paper-cut pattern on the non-woven fabric to make scarves and clothing, which was an innovation of mine. After that, I have always wanted to reflect the paper-cutting in the way of printing and dyeing, and some works such as senju Kannon that I created a few years ago are the use of tie-dyeing and printing and dyeing to print the paper-cut pattern on the cloth, and no one else has made it in this way. ”
Shi Ting's paper-cutting art has always been on the road of innovation, and when talking about one of the innovations she remembers most, she told reporters: "That was during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, I was ready to create some works to participate in the national paper-cutting selection activities, when I chose the Olympic mascot Fuwa as the theme, but many people are not optimistic about this theme, but I don't want to give up." After repeated thinking and research, I decided to use color paper-cutting to cut out Fuwa's works, I remember that I was the only one in the hall of the exhibition at that time, which attracted the attention of many people, and several of my works were also collected by The Chinese Arts and Crafts Master Fu Zuoren. Color paper cutting, can be said to be a kind of innovation of mine, but this is not simply to use color paper to cut, you must master the color collocation, for this I specifically to learn the color collocation. Over the years, there have been more and more colorful paper-cutting, which should be said to be a good thing for the development of paper-cutting art. And I am still looking for a breakthrough in color paper cutting, and I have to cut several works every year, which must be different from others. It is very difficult to do this, first of all, you have to have it in your head, just like students write essays, you can't write it in your head, this is long-term accumulation, how many years of accumulation can be created, and the color collocation you must have your own ideas. The works that come out of this are their own. ”
The paper cut has accompanied Sting for decades, and what makes her feel is the joy of life. Sting said: "Paper-cutting is now my hobby and my job, so I am seeking breakthroughs and innovations in my own paper-cutting skills, while also doing a good job in inheritance." To be honest, as a Qingyang person, I feel very proud to be able to bring paper-cutting to the provincial city, to pass it on, and to pass it on to more people. ”
Lanzhou Daily all-media reporter Kong Desheng text/photo
Edited by 丨Shi Yuhan
Responsible Editor 丨Bai Aihong