Qiuse sculpting art

Qiuse sculptures in Foshan mainly include clay sculptures, sculptures made of fragrant powder, and wax sculptures. Clay, fragrant powder and wax are the main materials used to make archaized bronzeware and ironware, stone sculptures, Qiuse fruit, flowers, farm produce and sideline products, aquatic products, dishes, etc. Qiuse clay sculptures are refined on the surface to reflect the real products in terms of shape, structure, color and touch.

Since Qiuse artworks all feature lifelike characteristics, regular sculptures cannot be regarded as a Qiuse art. Sculpting is only the first step in making a Qiuse handicraft; the second step is to carefully mold the substance to reflect the real subject.

Qiuse wax sculpting is mainly used to make glittering, flawless and translucent objects come to life. For instance, to imitate emerald and jade articles, it is necessary to dissolve the right amount of pigments into wax via cooking. Wax sculpting can also be used to make artificial foods look good enough to eat. Restaurants often apply this technique in advertisements to promote their dishes.

The soft wax can be molded into a variety of different shapes. Folk Qiuse artists in Foshan use white wax, beeswax, olefin and other materials to produce various Qiuse handicrafts, adding much glamour and color to the Qiuse events.

Qiuse zhen ke art

Zhen ke ("needle carving") is a unique genre of Qiuse arts that features a simple and unsophisticated appearance and monotone color. The best example of zhen ke handicrafts is the zhen kou lantern. The lantern, which consists of a series of carefully executed needle holes that transmit light to form different patterns, is also called the "10,000-needle lamp".

Another good example of Qiuse zhen ke art is the Qiuse melon lantern. To make a melon lantern, a kind of small engraver is needed to carve out different patterns on the husk of a Chinese watermelon before it is hollowed out.

Editor: Catherine