CLIENT
Artspace K
SERVICE
Paper-cutting Art
AWARD
2022 New York Art Directors Club Annual Awards / Merit
2022New York Type Directors Club Awards / Best Typography
CONCEPT
In the “Preface to Shuowen Jiezi (Explaining Glyph and Analyzing Compound Characters) written by Xu Shen of the East Han Dynasty, Chinese characters were made from the observations of people in ancient times. Observing the phenomena of mountains, rivers, the sun and moon, and the vivid movements of fowls and animals, they were enlightened with the meanings of communication and transmission.
東漢．許慎《說文解字敘》：「倉頡之初作書，蓋依類象形，故謂之文。其後形聲相益，即謂之字。」古人造字來自對大自然深刻的觀察，從山河日月、飛禽走獸生動的神貌中，體悟溝通與傳達的意義。
Store 藏
The paper cutting craft zang (store) uses ripples are the foundations of it strokes. The flowing water symbolizes wealth in Chinese culture. In addition, there are the characters “jing,” “wan,” and “zhao,” the words for large numbers, symbolizing the accumulation of wealth.
《說文解字》：「藏，匿也。」宋代文字學家徐鉉注釋：「《漢書》通用臧字。从艸，後人所加。」「藏」為古字「臧」引申，上面加草字頭，表示把穀物保藏起來，珍藏積累之意。《藏》剪紙以水紋做基礎筆劃，流動的水在華人文化中象徵財富，又《孫子算經》載：「凡大數之法，萬萬曰億，萬萬億曰兆，萬萬兆曰京。」藏字中間藏有「京」、「萬」、「兆」三個巨數單位，象徵納財聚富。
Money 錢
The upper layer of the paper cutting craft qian is an ancient farm tool “qian.” The lower layer of it is a circuit board, symbolizing the shift of barter means from farm tools to digital currency. With the renewal of currency, it symbolizes sustaining wealth.
《說文解字》：「銚也。古田器。从金戔聲。」「錢」字原意為耕田用的鐵鍬，古時可作為物資交換之用，在現代漢語中，「錢」已專指貨幣。「貝」字亦為財寶之意，貝幣是古時最早的自然貨幣。三貝而聚則為「贔」，龍生九子之一，貌似龜而好負重，力大可馱負三山五嶽。《錢》剪紙以祥獸「貝貝貝」馱著如山嶽般厚實的鉅富，上層為古代農器「錢」，下層則為時間齒輪造型的數位電路板，象徵從農具易物到數位貨幣的時代更新，亙古長富之意。
Treasure 寶
The paper cutting craft bao (treasure) uses the homophonic words of wishes for luckiness. In the middle of the character bao the word zuan (diamond) is added to amplify the splendor, meaning “gems” and “making a lot of money.” 《說文解字》：「珍也。从宀从王从貝，缶聲。」宀為深屋，王、貝皆為貴重之物，在屋中置有珍品，就是寶的意思。《寶》剪紙以傳統剪紙取吉祥諧音的手法，在寶中加入「鑽」字，以寶石裝飾筆劃添增璀璨美感，為「寶鑽」、「飽賺」之意。
