The
Patchwork Art of Shaanxi Province
Title:
The Patchwork Art of Shaanxi Province
Publisher: Foreign Languages Press
Pages: 94
Price: 128 yuan
Front cover. |
PATCHWORK art originated on north China's
Loess Plateau, mainly in Shaanxi and Shanxi provinces. As the
region's harsh environment is hard on the clothes worn by its
rural inhabitants, holes soon appear in everyday garments. Patchworking
was hence born of necessity and the deft handicraft skills of
the women who devised decorative patches. What had been created
from need soon evolved into a fashion, and people began adorning
their clothes with patches in patterns of animals, flowers,
and plants. Later still, these patches became common decorations
for door curtains, pouches, children's clothes, and knapsacks,
and have gradually evolved into a unique art.
Hand woven and dyed in bright, cheerful colors,
course homespun cloth imbues patchwork with strong local characteristics,
and represents the unsophisticated, honest and optimistic spirit
of the local people.
Patchwork art is based on paper-cuts, but
is more simple, eyecatching and vibrant. Overlapping fabric
-- sometimes as dense as a dozen layers -- brings patchwork
into relief, giving it a three-dimensional effect to which paper-cuts
cannot compare.
Following the emergence of a large number
of folk artists over the past two decades the patchwork art
of Yanchuan County, northern Shaanxi Province has become greatly
admired. Its traditional school is headed by Gao Fenglian, Liu
Honglan, and Wang Zhilan. Motifs are usually characters from
traditional culture and folk legends. The modern school, represented
by Liu Jieqiong, Gao Liping, and Guo Rulin, features motifs
from real life.
The Patchwork Art of Shaanxi Province
is an album that illustrates the essence of Shaanxi patchwork,
and the art of traditional and modern schools. It is a record
of the development of this art over the past twenty years. Included
in it are pictures of everyday life in Yanchuan County, showing
the background and origins of this craft. This album is an excellent
choice for lovers of Chinese folk art.
