In a bid to revive and celebrate Chinese traditions, a rising tide of young artists are harnessing the power of social media to bring their work to the public eye. One such artist is 31-year-old Li Shichuan, whose mesmerizing marker pen paintings of xingshi are making waves on the Chinese internet.
Hailing from Hebei Province in North China, Li initially focused on landscapes and architecture in his work. However, his artistic voyage led him to discover the infinite possibilities of marker pen art, pushing him to explore this unique medium further. His thematic shift to traditional Chinese culture made him an internet sensation, specifically with his first cultural-themed painting, Awakened Lion, which accumulated millions of views.
Li’s vivid and striking marker art encapsulates Chinese culture, with the traditional lion symbolizing power, resilience, and grandeur. Apart from lions, Li’s portfolio encompasses other facets of Chinese culture like sky lanterns and classical gardens.
Li’s diligent approach to his craft is quite commendable. He spends around 12 to 13 hours each day on his artwork, taking almost half a month to complete a single piece. His works are bought by private collectors and businesses and are gifted to international clientele.
Li feels a sense of duty to infuse his art with Chinese culture and wants to include Chinese dragons and shadow puppetry in his future works. He hopes that his work will inspire others to appreciate and create their own marker art.
On another artistic front, the fusion of cultural tradition with culinary artistry is showcased in the innovative ‘lion dance bun’ created by 36-year-old pastry chef, Wu Yang. This unique dish features meticulously layered pastries of various colors, shaped to represent a lion’s head from the traditional lion dance.
Despite the diminutive size of the lion dance bun, the creation process demands substantial craftsmanship. The texture of the lion’s fur is achieved by making thousands of tiny cuts on small pastry squares.
Wu has a decade-long journey in the pastry industry, and he currently runs a pastry studio specializing in flaky pastries. The concept of the lion dance bun was inspired by his admiration for the lion dance scenes in Wong Fei-hung films.
Wu has trained nearly 1,500 students from around the world in the craft of Chinese-style pastry making. His innovations in pastry art, such as the Swan Pastry and Flamingo Pastry, are a testament to the potential of culinary creations to embody and carry forward cultural traditions.
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