Cocoon of creativity

Therefore, he traced the source to silkworm cocoons. However, he found the cocoons to be soft and with pupae (insect) inside.

"It makes painting difficult and is hard to preserve, since the pupae will decay, especially quicker in a humid environment," he says.

He was determined to remove such problems from his path after his early cocoon art on display at the 2010 Shanghai Expo got a good deal of attention from visitors.

"Although my cocoon-painting technique hadn't matured then, it gave me faith in the art," he says.

It took him more than two years to clear the obstacles after looking into related documents and consulting chemistry experts. The goal was to harden the cocoon surface while stabilizing elements inside.

"The idea was to find the optimum temperature and space to treat various numbers of cocoons-say from 10 to 1,000 in a batch," Chen explains.

It was through trial and error that he arrived at a desirable result and the four methods he developed were patented.

Then, Chen got to do what he had been doing at home with the cocoons-art.

Chen tapped into folk cultural elements, adapted and featured them in hundreds of his cocoon works, which he brought to various public events, especially at the 2016 World Internet Conference in Wuzhen.

His works, featuring Peking Opera elements and cartoons dealing with realistic issues in humorous and philosophical ways, struck a note with international guests.

"They were interested in cultural and creative products during our exchanges," Chen says.

In recent years, Chen has tried to integrate tradition with modern appreciation.

"The works would help to promote folk culture if taking into account contemporary standards of beauty," he says.

Now, his cocoon art includes accessories, such as necklaces and pendants, and ornamental items for tables.

In 2018, Chen worked with Zhejiang Sci-Tech University and led some 20 postgraduate students to dig into sericulture and explore artistic expressions.

The university has set up a space at its silk museum to display Chen's cocoon artworks that have drawn people from different walks of life.