Many traditional woodcut prints(版画) are black and white or simple in color, but reduction woodcut(绝版木刻) prints can show rich colors.
The reduction woodcut uses one piece of wood to make a colorful artwork.
The artist cuts and prints(刻、印刷) different layers(层) one by one on the wood. The reduction woodcut became an intangible cultural heritage(非物质文化遗产) in Pu’er, Yunnan, in 2009.
Master’s story
Leng Guangmian, born in 1985, is a reduction woodcut artist. Leng started learning it in 2003. He said that making reduction woodcut prints is just like an adventure(奇遇). “Every time we cut on the wood and then print, we never know what it will be like in the end.”
Leng wants his artwork to show both great woodcutting skills(技巧) and the culture and life in Pu’er. “For my works, there are two themes(主题): Tea Horse Road(茶马古道), because Pu’er is one of the starting places of that road; and disappearing villages in Pu’er,” Leng said. “Many old villages in Pu’er need rebuilding, so I want to make people remember their beauty(记住它们的美) before they are gone.”