Delight and amazement were words to describe reactions to what was taught at a Chinese Paper Cutting Art Workshop at the Flatlands Library, 2065 Flatbush Avenue, on Friday, May 9th, by a uniquely talented master artist.
Young children and adults alike had the good fortune to learn from paper cutting master Ming Liang Lu, who has been featured in The New York Times, American Museum of Natural History and SinoVision for his unusual talent as a self-proclaimed master paper portrait cutter and artist.
To begin, using only small squares of colored paper and scissors, Lu, with help from his assistant, Sharlene Chou, demonstrated how to make the simplest designs by marking, folding and cutting small squares of paper into flowers, faces, a puppy, a Buddha and a fish. His fingers deftly moved the paper in one hand while the scissors remained in one position in the other, snipping all around.
“Just follow the lines, open the scissors and put it inside,” Lu said.
Children as young as 5 years old were able to copy the designs he made on the whiteboard in front of the room and cut them out using the technique he showed them. Once unfolded, the artistic creations shown were followed by exclamations of delight as everyone was amazed that they could do it, too.
After graduating to more complex designs, including the creation of the Chinese characters for spring and double happiness, Lu gave a demonstration of his unique ability to create paper portraits of guests just by looking at them and cutting the folded paper in less than five minutes, a truly amazing feat. Each time he opened up the paper, his paper art revealed an uncanny resemblance to his subject to everyone’s surprise.
He then framed the portrait, which he glued onto a background with his imprinted seal and signature below and placed it in a plastic sheet protector to be presented as a one-of-a-kind gift for his subjects.
Flatlands resident Cheryl Stiles just happened to get out of work early and decided to stop by the library to see what the event was about because she had an interest in arts and crafts and wanted to learn something new that she could do with her 5- and 8-year-old grandsons.
She was able to replicate all the designs and even when she saw that someone made a mistake, she still thought it was a good thing.
“Even if the scissor slips, it’s very forgiving,” she said. “It just changes the pattern and makes a unique design.”
Chinese paper cutting is an ancient Chinese art form dating back to the Han Dynasty and a wonderful way to experience Chinese art and culture during Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.
One more Chinese Paper Cutting Art Workshop is scheduled for Friday, May 16th, from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. with Lu at the Flatlands Library. If you missed this one, there is still one more chance to witness this amazing demonstration and learn something new.
