"Flowers Born on Paper" Chinese Paper Cutting by Ming Qiu Chen
Category: Event Calendar
Date and Time
- Fri, Feb 7, 2025 - Wed, Mar 5, 2025 10am - 6pm
Location
C'Ville Arts
118 E Main St
Details
Ming Chen’s colorful and intricate works will be featured on display in our gallery for the month of February. Come meet the artist during the Historic Downtown Mall’s First Friday celebration on February 7th, from 5 – 7 pm.
Paper-cutting, one of the oldest forms of Chinese folk art, creates delicate openwork designs that offer translucent visual effects and artistic beauty. Dating back to before the sixth century, paper-cutting traditionally enhances celebrations and daily life, appearing in festivals, weddings, birthdays, and other special occasions.
Artists create paper-cutting through various techniques: cutting, carving, hand-tearing, and incense burning. The artworks may feature positive carving, negative carving, or a blend of both styles. They come in both monochrome and colored versions, with colored paper-cutting subdivided into three distinct styles: stippling, color-blocking, and color-separated. In 2009, UNESCO recognized paper-cutting by adding it to the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
Ming mastered paper-cutting first through her grandmother's teachings in childhood, then later under the guidance of a renowned local paper artist. Her innovative technique of cutting and engraving using scrap magazines has gained recognition, with each piece standing as a unique creation.
