[cs_content][cs_section parallax=”false” style=”margin: 0px;padding: 45px 0px;”][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/2″ style=”padding: 0px;”][cs_text class=”cs-ta-justify”]Without the pull from the glittering bars and live music clubs that draw in evening crowds of Changzhou’s hip, young, and beautiful, the refurbished factory now known as Canal 5 is quiet during the day. Brick, cement, and steel rule. The museums and workshops that make up the daytime tenants tend to blend in unobtrusively, none more so than Show House, a tiny boutique in a non-descript, ivy-strewn red-brick building lining Canal 5’s primary courtyard. Designated with a simple-yet-cheery sign, there’s little to suggest the aspirations brewing within.[/cs_text][/cs_column][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/2″ style=”padding: 0px;”][cs_text class=”cs-ta-justify”]与街区内五光十色的酒吧和现场音乐吧，那些代表着常州“夜生活”的时髦、年轻、妖冶不同，运河五号，这个老厂房改造的创意街区的白天，透过砖瓦，水泥，钢筋，一切都显得如此静谧。博物馆和各类工作室，这些白天的租客们不着痕迹得融入了运河五号。这其中，没有比“Show House”更恰如其分的工作室了，这家小小的精品店藏身于运河五号的主庭院旁的一栋不惹眼，挂着长春藤的红砖建筑里。[/cs_text][/cs_column][/cs_row][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/2″ style=”padding: 0px;”][cs_text class=”cs-ta-justify”]Step through Show House’s industrial-chic glass doors, and the chilly façade melts under the warmth of gallery lighting, neatly arranged racks of clothing, and gold-framed display cases and paintings. Upon closer inspection, however, it becomes apparent that the “paintings” on the walls aren’t paintings at all but complicated pieces of embroidery. Silken strands of thread pile pell-mell over and under one another in what up-close appears to be chaos. Stand slightly, back, however, and the randomness organizes itself into deep, rich imagery.[/cs_text][/cs_column][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/2″ style=”padding: 0px;”][cs_text class=”cs-ta-justify”]穿过Show House工业感十足的玻璃门，冰冷的建筑内饰在暖融融的展厅灯光下变得温和起来，工作室里整洁地陈列着服饰，精心放置了镶金框架的陈列柜和画作。凑近细看，墙上的这一幅幅画并非出自画笔，而是刺绣之作。丝线层层相叠，紧密交叉，近看“乱”得毫无章法，但只需站稍远些，看似随意的针法又呈现出深刻丰富的画面质感。[/cs_text][/cs_column][/cs_row][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/2″ style=”padding: 0px;”][cs_text class=”cs-ta-justify”]“This is Changzhou Free Stitch embroidery,” says Show House’s soft-spoken proprietor, Cecilia Wu. “The stitches are uneven and cross over each other, which gives this type of embroidery a special look, more like an oil painting.” When it comes to Changzhou Free Stitch, Ms. Wu knows her stuff. She is the third generation in a family lineage devoted to this very local art form.[/cs_text][/cs_column][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/2″ style=”padding: 0px;”][cs_text class=”cs-ta-justify”]“这便是常州的乱针绣。”声音温润的Show House老板吴澄解释。“乱针绣长短不一，相互交织的针法，也使得这一刺绣工艺更具油画的效果。”当谈论到常州乱针绣，身为这一传统工艺的第三代嫡系传人的吴大师显然更有发言权。[/cs_text][/cs_column][/cs_row][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/1″ style=”padding: 0px;”][cs_text][Modula id=’63’][/cs_text][/cs_column][/cs_row][/cs_section][cs_section parallax=”false” style=”margin: 0px;padding: 45px 0px;”][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/1″ style=”padding: 0px;”][x_custom_headline level=”h3″ looks_like=”h4″ accent=”true” class=”cs-ta-center”]Painting with Thread
用针线作画[/x_custom_headline][/cs_column][/cs_row][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/2″ style=”padding: 0px;”][cs_text class=”cs-ta-justify”]Changzhou Free Stitch embroidery goes by many names and was invented in the 1920s by Yang Shouyu, a young textile artist and teacher hailing from a family of scholars in Changzhou’s Wujin District. Prior to Ms. Yang, great embroiderers were praised on neat, orderly stitches, beautiful, regular patterns and clean lines. In her youth, Ms. Yang studied both embroidery and painting. Shortly after graduating from Wujin Girls Normal School and landing her first teaching position at Danyang Zhengze School, she began experimenting with different embroidery techniques to better replicate the aesthetic she’d developed through her background in painting. As Ms. Yang refined and organized her experimental techniques into a formal style, the Chinese embroidery world took notice and the accolades and awards poured in. The government selected her works as special state souvenirs given to other countries during diplomatic relationships, and she was invited to set up China’s very first embroidery school in Suzhou.[/cs_text][/cs_column][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/2″ style=”padding: 0px;”][cs_text class=”cs-ta-justify”]常州乱针绣又名正则绣，锦纹绣，创始于二十世纪三十年代，创始人杨守玉，来自常州武进的一户书香之家，是位年轻有为的的书法家和教师。在她之前，刺绣以整洁有序的针法，精美传统图样和规则的线条为准。在杨守玉年轻时，她不仅擅长刺绣，还学习过油画。从常州女子师范学校毕业后，杨守玉被聘请到丹阳正则女子中学教书。她开始尝试各种刺绣，希望将西洋绘画与中国刺绣融为一体。她将这一改进后的首创技艺公布于众时，中国刺绣界为之哗然，给予“乱针绣”高度肯定和嘉奖。彼时，杨守玉的作品只是作为政府馈赠的礼品，用于国与国之间的礼物交往，鲜为人知。随后，应政府的邀请，杨守玉参与创办中国第一所刺绣学校（苏州刺绣研究所前身）[/cs_text][/cs_column][/cs_row][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/2″ style=”padding: 0px;”][cs_text class=”cs-ta-justify”]Ms. Yang’s embroidery is very reminiscent of Western oil painting in many ways. An individual work is first sketched out on fabric. Then layer by layer, stitches of different lengths are layered on top of one another as a painter might layer oils to obtain a specific light or color effect in a painting. As time goes by, what starts off as an apparently random assortment of different length stiches coalesces into a whole image or scene. Free Stitch pieces possess a distinctive criss-crossed texture which catches and plays with the light—thanks in part to the lustrous nature of the silken threads used—and breathes subtle changes into the image depending on where the viewer stands in relation to it.[/cs_text][/cs_column][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/2″ style=”padding: 0px;”][cs_text class=”cs-ta-justify”]刺绣大师杨守玉的乱针绣让人联想到西方的油画的许多特性：先在织布上拟好主题，再通过长短交叉线条叠层加色，就如油画家用画笔绘制出特定的光影和色彩效果一样。随着针法和色彩的叠加，看似随意的长短混搭的线条逐渐合并展现出一幅画面或场景。乱针绣独特的纵横凹凸的质地，尤其是来自丝线的缤纷色彩，让作品在不同光影下熠熠生辉。当你身处作品的不同方位，呈现的色彩感官也不尽相同。[/cs_text][/cs_column][/cs_row][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/1″ style=”padding: 0px;”][cs_text][Modula id=’64’][/cs_text][/cs_column][/cs_row][/cs_section][cs_section parallax=”false” style=”margin: 0px;padding: 45px 0px;”][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/1″ style=”padding: 0px;”][x_custom_headline level=”h3″ looks_like=”h4″ accent=”true” class=”cs-ta-center”]In the Family
乱针绣的传承[/x_custom_headline][/cs_column][/cs_row][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/2″ style=”padding: 0px;”][cs_text class=”cs-ta-justify”]In 1958, Chen Yaxian, a Wuxi native and graduate of Changzhou Tailoring and Embroidery class, decided to study under Ms. Yang. This posed a distinct challenge as Ms. Yang had retired the decade before. Ms. Chen would not be dissuaded, however, and ultimately persevered long enough that Ms. Yang, who had no children of her own, decided to accept the embroiderer as her last disciple. Ms. Chen was a consummate student, spreading the renown of Changzhou Free Stitch embroidery in domestic and international collections, and ultimately earning the impressive title of National-level Grand Master in Arts and Crafts.[/cs_text][/cs_column][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/2″ style=”padding: 0px;”][cs_text class=”cs-ta-justify”]1958年，陈亚先大师，江苏无锡人，曾任职于常州机绣手帕厂，师从杨守玉。一开始，这给杨大师带来了巨大挑战，因为她已经退休了十年有余。然而，陈亚先并未被劝阻，在她的死缠硬磨下，没有子嗣的杨守玉最终同意将她收为关门弟子。陈亚先作为一名追求日臻完美的学生，她在国内外孜孜不倦得发扬着乱针绣，并最终获得了工艺美术界国家级称号的荣誉。[/cs_text][/cs_column][/cs_row][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/2″ style=”padding: 0px;”][cs_text class=”cs-ta-justify”]Sun Yanyun was born in Changzhou to Ms. Chen during her pursuit of Ms. Yang. Thus it was only natural that she would be indoctrinated into Ms. Chen’s Free Stitch passion. The mother and daughter worked together throughout the years on joint works even as Ms. Sun began to forge her own name as a master of embroidery as well as Changzhou Free Stitch innovator, incorporating new types of stitches into the style. In an interview in 2006, Ms. Sun expressed a desire for her own daughter to carry on the legacy handed down from Ms. Chen and herself.[/cs_text][/cs_column][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/2″ style=”padding: 0px;”][cs_text class=”cs-ta-justify”]孙燕云，陈亚先之女，出生于母亲作为杨守玉关门弟子之际。也因此，她同样醉心于乱针绣的设计创作。母女多年共同专研乱针绣，期间，孙燕云开创了新的乱针绣技艺，成为了刺绣界的大师以及常州乱针绣的创新者。在2006年的一次采访中，孙燕云表达了渴望她的女儿也能继承母亲和自己的乱针绣工艺并传承下去的心愿。[/cs_text][/cs_column][/cs_row][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/1″ style=”padding: 0px;”][cs_text][Modula id=’65’][/cs_text][/cs_column][/cs_row][/cs_section][cs_section parallax=”false” style=”margin: 0px;padding: 45px 0px;”][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/1″ style=”padding: 0px;”][x_blockquote cite=”Sun Yanyun 孙燕云” type=”center”]The new generation, full of dreams and restless.
当下的新生代，充满了梦想和焦虑。[/x_blockquote][/cs_column][/cs_row][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/2″ style=”padding: 0px;”][cs_text class=”cs-ta-justify”]Leading a visitor around her shop, Cecilia Wu’s fingers dance as if unaccustomed to being unused. Already, she has spent her life in the embroidery world. She converses on the differences between stitches or styles with detailed knowledge accumulated after years of practice. She is a devoted representative of her family’s embroidery dynasty, promoting her mother’s and grandmother’s many accomplishments while gently segueing into her own lofty aspirations for the art form.[/cs_text][/cs_column][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/2″ style=”padding: 0px;”][cs_text class=”cs-ta-justify”]领着参观者在工作室走上一遭，吴澄的手指似乎一刻都不能闲着。事实上，她早已将自己交给了乱针绣。经过多年的练习和积累，她的言谈中已经可以将刺绣针法和技巧表述得相当详尽。她肩负着将家族刺绣事业的责任，有条不紊的用她自己的方式将她母亲和祖母的高超造诣发扬光大。[/cs_text][/cs_column][/cs_row][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/2″ style=”padding: 0px;”][cs_text class=”cs-ta-justify”]Since opening Show House in 2014, Ms. Wu, a graduate of Canada’s Kwantlen Polytechnic University, has been on a mission to bring the high art of Changzhou Free Stitch embroidery into the daily lives of ordinary people. Last year, she founded a brand to further develop this undertaking—Cheng Wu, which means “Keep the tradition, and make something new.”[/cs_text][/cs_column][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/2″ style=”padding: 0px;”][cs_text class=”cs-ta-justify”]自2014年Show House开业以来，吴澄，加拿大Kwantlen Polytechnic大学的毕业生，一直希望将曲高和寡的常州乱针绣带入寻常百姓人家。为此，去年她自创了一个品牌——承無，寓意传承所有，无限衍生。[/cs_text][/cs_column][/cs_row][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/2″ style=”padding: 0px;”][cs_text class=”cs-ta-justify”]This is no small order. Among all the different styles of Chinese embroidery, Changzhou Free Stitch embroidery is especially labor intensive, depending heavily on an artist’s subjective taste to decide when, where, and how stitches should fall to produce the desired painterly effects. This, of course, also, means works completed in Changzhou Free Stitch command a high price tag, placing them well out of reach of the average consumer. Finding a way to bring Changzhou Free Stitch embroidery to the masses without compromising on the integrity of the art form requires an innovative mind and an openness to experimentation. Fortunately, these are both traits that seem to reside in the practitioners of this art.
[/cs_text][/cs_column][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/2″ style=”padding: 0px;”][cs_text class=”cs-ta-justify”]然而这并非易事。在所有的中国刺绣工艺中，常州乱针绣是极为耗时耗力，对创作者的审美和技艺有极高的要求：天时地利人和，才能准确表达出创作者的意图。这也侧面说明了常州乱针绣作品的价格不菲。一方面，让艺术亲民，为大众接受，另一方面，又要保留住乱针绣的工艺，这需要创新的想法和思维。万幸的是，吴澄找到了这样互融的方式。[/cs_text][/cs_column][/cs_row][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/2″ style=”padding: 0px;”][cs_text class=”cs-ta-justify”]Ms. Wu is hoping to utilize the power of fashion to further her goals. With a Taobao shop and a Shanghai showroom in the works, she intends to market clothing and accessories embellished with Changzhou Free Stitch embroidery directly to consumers. Her line of jewelry runs the gamut from traditional flowers to modern designs. Meanwhile, she’s also investigating additional routes to enhance approachability to this branch of embroidery. Perhaps in a few years, this Changzhou art form could end up strutting down catwalks in New York or Paris.[/cs_text][/cs_column][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/2″ style=”padding: 0px;”][cs_text class=”cs-ta-justify”]吴澄打算借助时尚的力量来追求她的目标。随着淘宝店的和一家上海展示室的开业在即，她打算将装饰了乱针绣工艺的衣服和首饰直接对外销售。她的饰品涵盖从传统的花卉造型到现代摩登设计。同时，她也在尝试不同的途径，提升这一艺术的亲民性。或许在不久的将来，这个常州特有的艺术将走上纽约或巴黎的时尚T台。[/cs_text][/cs_column][/cs_row][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/1″ style=”padding: 0px;”][cs_text][Modula id=’66’][/cs_text][/cs_column][/cs_row][/cs_section][cs_section parallax=”false” style=”margin: 0px;padding: 45px 0px;”][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/1″ style=”padding: 0px;”][x_custom_headline level=”h3″ looks_like=”h4″ accent=”true” class=”cs-ta-center”]CHENG WU
承無 [/x_custom_headline][/cs_column][/cs_row][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/1″ style=”padding: 0px;”][cs_text][Modula id=’67’][/cs_text][/cs_column][/cs_row][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/2″ style=”padding: 0px;”][cs_text]Changzhou Embroidery Museum
常州乱针绣博物馆
Building 4,17 Qing Ye Road,Zhong Lou District
常州钟楼区勤业路17号 4号楼梳篦厂内[/cs_text][/cs_column][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/2″ style=”padding: 0px;”][cs_text]CHENG WU
承無
Show House Canal 5
运河五号创意街区18号小院[/cs_text][/cs_column][/cs_row][/cs_section][cs_section parallax=”false” style=”margin: 0px;padding: 45px 0px;”][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/1″ style=”padding: 0px;”][x_line style=”border-top-width: 1px;”][/cs_column][/cs_row][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/1″ style=”padding: 0px;”][cs_text class=”cs-ta-center”]Article by Theresa Boersma
Contributions by Hui Chen
Translation by Kirsten Lu
March 4, 2017[/cs_text][/cs_column][/cs_row][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/1″ style=”padding: 0px;”][x_share title=”Share this Post” share_title=”” facebook=”true” twitter=”false” google_plus=”false” linkedin=”true” pinterest=”false” reddit=”false” email=”true” email_subject=”Hey, thought you might enjoy this! Check it out when you have a chance:”][/cs_column][/cs_row][/cs_section][/cs_content]
