Flaws become highlights! Amazing jade carving creativity!

Defects are one of the problems that must be faced in jade carving art. Unless the material is perfect in itself, there will always be various defects such as color variation, cracks, etc. However, whether the defects are handled delicately enough can give us a glimpse of the jade carver's skill level.

The great Zen master Qingyuan Xingsi of the Song Dynasty once said, "When I came to Zen thirty years ago, I saw mountains as mountains and water as water. Later, I met a master and found a way in. I saw mountains not as mountains and water not as water. Now I have found a place to rest, and I still see mountains as mountains and water as water." From this, we can get the three realms of life: "Seeing mountains as mountains and water as water; seeing mountains not as mountains and water not as water; seeing mountains as mountains and water as water."

From this, we can infer that the handling of flaws in jade carving art actually has three levels.

The first level is that you can see the flaws but can’t think of a good way to deal with them. It’s like many people know where the problem lies, but they just can’t think of a good way to solve it, so the flaw remains just a flaw.

The second level is to see the flaw and then remove it. In this way, the flaw disappears.

The third level is to further utilize the flaws skillfully to achieve an effect that is neither a flaw nor a real flaw .

The “Eye-Pointing” series of works by the famous jade carver Yao Wangshan belongs to the third realm. They make clever use of flaws to make people’s eyes shine.

Yao Wangshan selected the black spots in the material as a breakthrough point, first determining the eyes and then the shape. In ancient times, the finishing touch to a painting is the eyes, which are completed last. However, to deal with such flaws, Yao Wangshan does the opposite, adding the "finishing touch" first and then painting the body. He believes that the charm of playful color lies in giving flexibility.

By identifying the "key point" of the topic, he found a breakthrough, and Yao Wangshan also carefully designed the flaws. In polishing, he made full use of the glossy and matte methods. The curved design and icy transparent color on the eyes let the light in, so the effect seen by the viewer at different angles is different, making the eyes carved "alive" as if they were blinking.

▲《Wise and Mighty》

Yao Wangshan studied Shoushan stone carving in his early years, and later came into contact with various materials. He has a unique understanding of color. In his skilled techniques, he makes good use of color for creativity, and using flaws is an upgraded version of his clever use of color, and he has also extended this series.

Jade carving is a carving based on materials. Yao Wangshan believes that understanding stone is the key to creation. A piece of material has been tempered for hundreds of millions of years. Perhaps flaws are the special "birthmark" that nature gives to stone, just as no one is perfect. Perhaps this flaw is just like some people's, and this shortcoming may be his highlight. As for how to look at it and how to use it, the key lies in the person who treats it.