Ambassadors of Folk Exhibit: Shengzhu Chen Chinese Textiles
Date2010-2011
Mediumborn digital video - MTS file
DimensionsDuration: 1 Minutes, 10 Seconds
ClassificationsGraphics
Credit LineConnecticut Cultural Heritage Arts Program collections
CopyrightIn Copyright
Object number2015.196.274.3
DescriptionVideo showing the details of a textile made by Shengzhu Chen in the gallery for the exhibition, "Ambassadors of Folk: Connecticut Master Traditional Artists."
NotesSubject Note: "Ambassadors of Folk: Connecticut Master Traditional Artists" was an exhibit presented at the Institute for Community Research in Hartford, Connecticut, from June 10 through October 2010.Curated by the Connecticut Cultural Heritage Arts Program, the exhibit showcased the artistry of Connecticut folk and traditional artists who have achieved recognition on a national or international scale. The exhibit brought to wider attention the mastery of local artists who are highly respected exemplars of ethnic traditions within their communities. The eight visual artists and two performers featured represent a wide variety of artistic genres and ethnicities and share a high degree of technical skill and sophistication. The artists’ accomplishments represent entire lives spent serving their communities through cultural production.
Artists included Aldona Saimininkas, East Hartford; Romulo Chanduvi, East Hartford; Jampa Tsondue, Old Saybrook; Eldrid Arntzen, Watertown; Paul Luniw, Terryville; Valentine and Aili Galasyn, Canterbury; Shengzhu Chen Bernardin, Torrington; Marek Czarnecki, Meriden; performers Negrura Peruana, East Hartford and Daniel Boucher, Bristol.
Art forms exhibited drew from roots in Lithuania, Peru, Tibet, Norway, Ukraine, Finland, China, and Eastern Europe, but were all made and used here in Connecticut and beyond. One unifying characteristic is that these pieces have been created for use in a community’s traditional practices. For example, the Buddhist thangka paintings and the Byzantine Christian icons encourage active veneration, they serve a purpose beyond being paintings to be viewed. Other forms on display include decorative containers, cloth, commemorative pictures and rugs, wood carvings, and important seasonal decorations such as two types of dyed and etched Easter eggs. Performance traditions originate from African Peru and Québec. All of the art forms are beloved in the artists’ communities in Connecticut, where they serve as important expressions of cultural identity and heritage.
This exhibit celebrated the twenty years that the Connecticut Cultural Heritage Arts Program has worked with these and other remarkable traditional artists and their communities across the state.
Biographical Note: Shengzu Chen Bernardin designs and dyes traditional Chinese resist-printed cloth (Jiao Hua) in a process that dates back to the Song Dynasty (960 – 1279). She learned the technique from her family at the age of seven, growing up in Jiangsu province in eastern China. Shengzhu first sketches a pattern in either a traditional design or one that she has created, then carves a stencil in that pattern onto oilpaper. The stencil is laid over cotton cloth and covered with a soy/lime/and water paste that goes through the holes and onto the fabric. After drying for seven days, the fabric is then dipped into natural indigo dye. The areas covered in soy paste remain white while the rest of the cloth takes the indigo dye and becomes blue. The shade of blue depends on how many times the cloth is dipped – at least three or four times for light blue and sometimes up to ten times for darker shades. In addition to lengths of cloth, Shengzhu also fashions clothing, decorative covers, wall hangings, and bags. She also works in a complicated three-stage Japanese tie-dyeing technique called Shibori. Shengzhu markets her work internationally as well as throughout the Northeast at festivals and quality craft shows, and she receives commissions for specialty designs from Chinatown businesses. Shengzhu is the co-author (with Lu Iui) of an extensive illustrated catalogue of traditional Chinese indigo dye patterns and processes, published in Chinese. She sells items through her website and gives information there about the process as well as Chinese legends about the origins of “China blue.”
Additional materials exist in the CCHAP archive for this artist and this exhibit
Cataloging Note: This project was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services MA-245929-OMS-20.
Status
Not on view
