Dough sculptor blends tradition with pop culture
By Yang Jun and Liu Boqian |
chinadaily.com.cn |
Updated: 2025-05-13 17:19
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From the legendary general Guan Yu with his long blade to Star Wars icons wielding lightsabers, 37-year-old Chen Yuan from Guizhou province sculpts classic characters to bring dough to life.
As one of the inheritors of Zunyi's dough-sculpting tradition, Chen transforms palm-sized lumps of dough in his studio. Using an array of carving knives, he teases out the faces of mythical beasts.
He kneads jet-black dough until it gleams like satin. Then, with his thumb and forefinger, he pushes, pulls, twists, and rolls — his fingers acting like razor-sharp tools as simple dough becomes vivid human and animal figures.
