With the summer in full swing, we invited people to an unforgettable experience for three evenings with Chinese artist Qi Xiaoting [Chi Shaoting], who has many years of experience in teaching Chinese painting and calligraphy.
The artist grew up in Kyiv, but was forced to leave her home due to the war and currently lives temporarily in Germany.
The war in Ukraine strongly touched the sensitive soul of the artist - she started the Ukrainian support and peace project "Voice of Ukraine", - on the pages of Ukrainian and other countries' newspapers describing the horrors of the war, Qi Xiaoting conveyed her experiences with unique drawings. Thus, the pages of newspapers in different languages turned into works of art that do not require text and are understood without words. The author said: "This idea was born from a lack of painting tools. When you're running from explosions, the ability to carry ink and rice paper with you is impossible. An artist who aspires to create can paint with anything... toothpaste... with his fingers... The first works were created under such conditions - under war conditions."
Workshop participants had the opportunity to see these latest works of the artist at a mini-exhibition held at our institute.
The creative workshop consisted of three parts: on the first evening, we learned about Chinese calligraphy and drew bamboos; the second - we continued our acquaintance with Chinese calligraphy and drew lotus flowers, and the third stood out for its colors and freshness, because we painted a royal peony.
In these classes, the participants got acquainted with Chinese calligraphy, Chinese painting and got their first practical skills. But perhaps the most interesting thing for those who visited was to communicate with the artist herself, who speaks Russian and Ukrainian fluently.
The wonderful feedback from the participants encourages us to continue organizing such activities and we all believe that we will see this wonderful representative of Chinese art again this fall.
Here are some interesting facts about the artist:
Qi Xiaoting [Chi Shaoting] is a Chinese artist, calligrapher, art teacher, member of the Public Chinese Culture Club (Weifang). Since 1997, she lived in Ukraine. in 2011 graduated from Kyiv Pedagogical University, Faculty of Art and Design. Studied with famous Chinese artists: Zhang Zhonggen, Zhang Huayong and Liu Zonggang. The artist participated in collective exhibitions and held personal exhibitions in Ukraine, China, the USA and Spain. Her works are in museums and private collections of Ukraine and several other countries. She has been working as an art teacher for more than 10 years and has her own art school "Sky culture".
The artist creates in the traditional Chinese xieyi 写意 (expression of ideas or free brush) style. As usual, it is important for the artist to convey the spirit of the idea on rice paper, not the details and the accuracy of the external features. According to Chinese painting philosophy, beauty and wisdom lie in simplicity. Therefore, paintings use forms of expression such as generalization, hyperbole and abstraction. You can admire the artist's works here:
The art of calligraphy 书法 and xieyi 写意 painting requires the artist's multifaceted skills, clear vision and inner harmony. According to the artist, in order to write a symbol, you need to maintain balance, rhythm, harmony, fluidity, consistency and harmony at the same time - this is not an easy task. And in painting, it is important to be able to observe and combine dark spots with light ones, thick lines with thin ones, texture with even imperfections... and thus convey your inner experience or thoughts about the world around you.
Calligraphy practices help a person to open up, relax and enjoy the process itself and the magical result - a work lived through. And there is no longer any doubt about the positive effect of calligraphy on a person's emotional state, fine motor skills and memory development.
Chinese painting is the key to the mysterious world of Chinese art, which helps to feel and understand Chinese culture. We thank the artist who agreed to share her knowledge, revealing the beauty of Chinese art.