Lunar New Year and Spring Programs
Papercutting Art Workshops at Walden Pond State Reservation
Walden Pond is sacred in my heart because of David Henry Thoreau! In Chinese we say: 山不在高，有仙则名，水不在深有龙则灵。A mountain is not famous for its height but for the immortals living there. A river is not famous for its depth but for the dragons living there.
As an artist who shares Thoreau’s love for nature, I am so happy to have the opportunity to offer two public art making workshops at the Walden Pond State Reservation Visitor Center this summer. Please register and see you there. You need to email Walden.programs@mass.gov and let them know which date you are coming and how many people.
Halloween at Magazine Beach
10/26, 2-5 pm, please join me and Mass Audubon at the Magazine Beach, Cambridge to make papercutting masks and paper lanterns.
More details for the event is here.
Celebrating Yin Yu Tang – Papercutting workshops at the Peabody Essex Museum
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Celebrating Yin Yu Tang
I’m excited to announce that in April, I’ll be hosting papercutting and watercolor storytelling programs at the Peabody Essex Museum (@peabodyessex) to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Yin Yu Tang, an Anhui-style old house built around 1800 and relocated to PEM. And PEM has opened to the public since 1799. During my exploration, I noticed a curtain hook with rich cultural significance.
The gourd (葫芦) symbolizes the womb. According to myth, Chinese ancestors 伏羲 (a male) and 女娲 (a female) avoided a flood by hiding inside a gourd, thus giving birth to offspring. With its numerous seeds, the gourd also represents the hope for many children. Its long vine signifies generations without end 😊.
The bed in the exhibit was crafted for newlyweds, explaining the presence of gourd curtain hooks on both sides. Additionally, intricate woodcut frames feature many squirrels, adding further layers to explore within the exhibit.
The Dragon and the Phoenix
This story explores the journey towards achieving balance and harmony of Yin and Yang within each of us, among different individuals and groups, and between humans and the natural world. Envisioned as an interdisciplinary arts piece, it features a video installation on the stage alongside a hanging River-Dragon casting shadows on two dancers.
The two characters, Dragon and Phoenix, symbolize Yang and Yin respectively, representing the male and physical aspects and the female and spiritual aspects of every being on Earth.
Act 1. The stage is set with a serene backdrop representing a lush and thriving landscape (music invoke our ancestral past). The dragon and the phoenix gracefully move together, symbolizing the balance of Yin and Yang, and power and spirituality. Their movements are fluid, their bodies relaxed, reflecting the harmonious unity that brings prosperity to the world. As they dance, the natural world around them blossoms and thrives. But this doesn’t last very long, they start to have a pull-and push relationship, and during the process Phoenix gradually wanes/slows and Dragon gains speed and power in movements, and two of them separate (either the Phoenix leaves the stage or stay on the stage motionless but any gesture she holds there is strength in the soft-motionless gesture).
Act2. Solo dance of the Dragon. Without being balanced by Yin/Spiritual strength of the Phoenix, the Dragon’s movements become more forceful and rapid. He spirals into a dynamic display of power, causing the rivers to overflow and flood the lands. The crops are destroyed, and famine grips the world. The dragon then dries himself up, representing a year of drought, where the land becomes barren, and nothing grows. The consequences of his unchecked power are evident as the world suffers (achieved either by video or by supporting actors, or even by participating audiences). The important note here is that never express Dragon as evil. When the dragon causes destructions is because it is unbalanced within, and finally he caused total exhaustion to himself.
Act 3. Rebirth of the Phoenix – the solo dance of the Phoenix. The Phoenix awakes, and slowly rises from the barren and drought-stricken land. Her body movement is stretchy, soft yet resilient, as if grass comes back to life after a long winter. She grows taller and she sees the exhausted Dragon lying motionless. She starts to engage with tenderness but received coldness and resistance from the Dragon. Dragon looks cold and distant. His resistant movements show power but need to be expressed as a weakness. The Phoenix understands, and she is patient and tries to whisper to him and use gestures to evoke his senses and memories.
Act 4. The Dragon slowly recognizes the Phoenix (as part of himself). The two start a push-and-pull dance. The Phoenix movements are soft but with underly strength. The Dragon’s movements are trying to be powerful but hide weakness. As they try to engage, the movements of each are neutralized – they become similar. But they are not back to One. Instead, they are always in a push-and-pull relationship, perpetually trying to regain the balance and harmony – their movements express their perpetual efforts in trying to FIND/SENESE the balance and to KEEP the balance.
The End.
Arts Thursdays at Harvard Museums 2/29
I will be at the Harvard Museum of Natural History leading hands-on papercutting sessions. Come with your loved ones or friends, and get hands-on and bring something you create home to celebrate the year of the Dragon!
Please register here: https://hmnh.harvard.edu/event/artsthursdays-year-dragon-museums
Cambridge Holiday Arts Market
Dear friends, so quickly we are approaching the end of the year! I hope to see you at the Cambridge Holiday Arts Market. I will have original watercolors, papercuts and silkscreen prints. And there are other 20 artists with all sorts of media. Also feel free to just take a stroll and have a chat. Best regards.
River-Dragon Art Show Case 11/11/2023
You are invited to the event. 11/11/2023 from 5-7 pm at the Powder House Magazine Beach Cambridge.
Coming Lowell Folk Festival
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