CARVING OUT A NICHE
A group of artisans spent a year creating an expansive leather tableau depicting places on the ancient Silk Road, Yang Feiyue reports.
Jia Yufeng was more than thrilled when a scroll of leather carvings she had spent a year working on became the center of attention for visitors to Ordos in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region in late August.
The 27-year-old from Beijing played a significant role in bringing the 8.8-meterlong embossed artifact to life, which saw deserts, camels, reclining Buddhas and architectural landmarks vividly carved out of dark brown cattle hides to form one expansive, three-dimensional tableau.
The elements represent 17 cities from 10 countries on the ancient Silk Road, including China’s Dunhuang and Hungary’s Budapest.
Each scene appears to take on a life of its own and jumps out from the animal skin, thanks to the delicate concave and convex contours and the artful application of color and highlights.
“It was really surprising to see an icon of my hometown appear on a Chinese artifact,” says Mellate Dilnar, who comes from Almaty, Kazakstan’s capital, when she saw the monument that commemorates the country’s liberation depicted in the scroll.
“I personally felt elated when I saw it,” she says.
Dilnar is currently studying comparative literature and cross-cultural studies in Beijing.
“The leather carving is just one of the many Chinese cultural elements that amazes me.”
The sculpted hide was presented as an example of intangible cultural heritage from Inner Mongolia at the start of the Ancient Silk Road tour that kicked off in Beijing on Aug 28.
The tour was initiated by the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, which aims to promote trade and cultural exchanges around the world.
It is set to continue through Sept 29, covering significant sites in seven countries in Asia and Europe.
Business talks, youth forums, cultural exhibitions and sport exchanges will be staged during the tour.
Seeing a positive response from audience members like Dilnar and their love for the ancient art of leather carving, Jia felt that all her team’s hard work and effort were well worth it.
It took her a year to finish the leather carving with six of her colleagues.
“Making the scroll was physically demanding, but the work was a labor of love,” Jia says.
They had to keep their eyes trained closely to the hide to ensure precision, and they changed positions from time to time to work on different areas of the vast artifact.
In winter, water had to be sprayed onto the hide every 10 minutes to keep it supple enough for sculpting, Jia says.
Their hands soon became chapped because they had to wash their hands every two hours to prevent the hide from absorbing sweat and oil over the winter months.
“What’s more, we couldn’t wear too much because thick clothes would often get in the way of precision carving,” she adds.
Originally a graphic arts student, Jia was drawn to the art form three years ago.
She has been receiving training from leather carving master Cai Honghao, whose work Spring Deer featuring peach blossoms and deer was awarded first place in the best picture category at the World Leather Debut in the United States in 2016.
“A lot can be done with leather of 2-millimeter thickness,” Jia says.
Cattle hides are the most common base for creating leather carvings.
It has to be softened by being soaked in vegetablebased tannic acid for over a month before crafting can begin, Jia explains.
After this, the hide would be ready for the range of complex processes necessary to create the artwork — from sketching, rubbing and etching, to carving, dyeing and sewing.
For example, one could use shaping tools to press down certain parts and make other parts stand out by pushing them up from the back and filling the space with powdered leather.
One of the charms of this kind of carving is the natural texture of leather.
Over time, the natural hide darkens, while the areas highlighted with decorative elements such as gold leaf retain their vividness.
The entire work takes on a fine gloss, with certain areas providing an interesting contrast. These, in turn, imbue the carving work with a sense of time, Jia explains.
To date, leather carvings from the Beijing-based Nashici Workshop where Jia works have been sold to North America and Europe.
“Most of our works are tailored for our clients,” says Liu Zao, owner of the Nashici Workshop.
Unlike their counterparts in the West, where steel forms are often used to produce leather patterns, the workshop’s leather carvings are purely handmade and use the same approach as traditional Chinese painting.
“The graver is our pen,” Liu says.
Jia is determined to continue to pursue the ancient art form and hopes to add elements on her own to her work in the future.
“Although leather carving is an ancient technique, it can be integrated into many forms of modern art,” Jia says.
Students of painting, sculpture and costume should be able to use their own expertise to create new objects through such carving, she adds.
“For example, my teacher has applied Chinese paintings featuring birds and flowers to leather carving, and my friends have used leather carvings to make clothes.”