The impression most people have of traditional Chinese knots is as embellishment for a utensil or accompaniment for jade or jewelry.
Because the craft suffers from the innate limitation of shapes that can be knotted together, it has been unable to develop as has, for example, sculpture or drawing. Thus the art has stayed confined to a few specified designs or techniques, with few innovations.
However, recently LYDIA H. S. Chen has opened up new avenues for the Chinese knot. She has drawn upon patterns from all kinds of traditional Chinese motifs, from brass tripods of the Warring States Period to Han and T'ang dynasty paintings to the wall paintings of Tunhuang, and used knot techniques to lay them out, breaking the old limitation that knots are always accessories, never the art form proper.
Her renderings of phoenixes and dancers based on the wall art at Tunhuang are especially representative of the new life in this traditional motif. In her hands, the Chinese knot has become more refined, more exquisite, and can be appreciated for the artistic beauty it conveys.
[Picture Caption]
The subject is taken from Tunhuang paintings of fighting cocks. The wings flare, the eyes express strength and vitality--a battle to the death.
Drifting on breezes of heavenly melodies; showering down flower petals as she flits across the sky. (from a painting at Tunhuang)
The softly dancing young women, a depiction from the T'ang dynasty, convey here the extreme bliss of the Buddhist Pure Land.
Interlocking squares. Traditional knotting mostly seeks symmetry; a work like this requires complex and precise intertwining.
Using leather instead of string, thus giving it a different textural quality, the work suggests the shapes of a ch'i, a halberd-type weapon (the sound is a homophone for "auspicious"); a ram (good fortune); and bats (all things as you wish).
Done with dyed rough hemp, these flowers attract a dragonfly to stop for a breather.
The subject is taken from Tunhuang paintings of fighting cocks. The wings flare, the eyes express strength and vitality--a battle to the death.
Drifting on breezes of heavenly melodies; showering down flower petals as she flits across the sky. （from a painting at Tunhuang）
The softly dancing young women, a depiction from the T'ang dynasty, convey here the extreme bliss of the Buddhist Pure Land.
Interlocking squares. Traditional knotting mostly seeks symmetry; a work like this requires complex and precise intertwining.
Using leather instead of string, thus giving it a different textural quality, the work suggests the shapes of a ch'i, a halberd-type weapon （the sound is a homophone for "auspicious"）; a ram （good fortune）; and bats （all things as you wish）.
Done with dyed rough hemp, these flowers attract a dragonfly to stop for a breather.
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