The world on a fruit pit

Chinese artists have been creating miniature scenes on the unlikely medium for many generations

Strange as it may seem, carving fruit pits - or drupes, pips, seeds, and nuts if you prefer - goes back centuries.

Crafting peach and apricot pits walnut shells, and even olive seeds into Buddha figurines, jewelry and landscapes has been practiced at least since the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC). What at first seems like the realm of the hipster is in fact the realm of the artisan.

Yun Peng adds his own style and imagination to his fruit pits. A post-80s generation artist, Yun graduated from the art department of Shenyang University, majoring in murals and frescoes, woodcarving and clay sculpture. In 2005, Yun started his fruit pit carving career, and in 2007 he founded his workshop, Yiren Hequ, attracting many young artists to pit carving. The workshop is one way carving enthusiasts communicate and share their works.

Yun's most famous pieces express a sense of active realism, often are praised for the sense of life he gives to his subjects, which sometimes are celebrities. Yun can lay claim to creating the split-carving technique, which allows him to compose a piece at scale while keeping the realistic details intact. Indeed, the medium is more malleable than one might think, even on such a small scale.

But Yun believes that a work of art should be more than just imitation. Flawless technique is imperative, but that's just the beginning. As an artist, you need to devote your feelings, explore your innovative techniques, and commit, he says.

His intellectual ancestors would almost certainly agree. The art did not become very popular until the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). At that time, even the emperor owned master carvings. It declined in the mid-19th century, but the art is back in force in places like Suzhou, Weifang, Guangdong and Liaoning.

Yun's works have won many domestic and international awards. He feels proud of what he has done but says it is far from enough, with hopes that such a precious cultural relic will be recognized and loved by more and more people. Yun has done his part: creating the next generation of fruit pit carvers with the same dream.

Courtesy of The World of Chinese, www.theworldofchinese.com

The World of Chinese