Wooden carving works featuring cute animals fill Zheng Qianqian's home. [Photo/jinhua.com.cn]
In Zheng Qianqian's home in Lanxi, Jinhua, Zhejiang province, an array of wooden carvings fill the space, featuring birds, cats, dogs, pandas, and more, each exuding an endearingly cute style.
Growing up under the influence of his father, Zheng Shiyou, a distinguished Chinese root carving artist and Jinhua's root carving intangible cultural heritage practitioner, Zheng's childhood exposure to the art form inspired his foray into creative wood carving.
Zheng emphasized the similarities in techniques between his creative works and traditional root carvings, noting that the key distinction lies in creativity.
Initially drawn to birds, Zheng's whimsical attempts at combining various bird species' features into a single work were met with limited acceptance. Adapting his approach, he integrated popular elements like cute animals and emojis into his creations, resulting in products that resonated with a wider audience.
"The time varies depending on the style and size," Zheng said. "At first, it usually takes two to three hours to carve a piece, but with practice, efficiency increases." He is also trying to collaborate with workshops of skilled woodcarvers, aiming to partially introduce machinery and increase production capacity.
"I started selling my products at fairs at the beginning of this year. I feel that these fairs are friendly to artisans like us, with a lot of traffic and low expenses. They also allow us to directly hear feedback from buyers," said Zheng.
His products sell even better online. "I have been selling online since 2023, with average annual sales of around 10,000 works," Zheng added.
"My father and I are both preserving the traditional skill of root carving. It's just that my father likes to take it slow, while I prefer to take the 'high-speed train'," Zheng said.
