wǒ yī zhí zài yòng bái zú de zhā rǎn gōng yì lái zuò wǒ de yì shù hé shè jì

我一直在用白族的扎染工艺来做我的艺术和设计

I’ve been doing my art and design with the zaran(tie-dyeing) craft of Bai ethnic people

zài wǒ zhī qián méi yǒu rén zuò guò zhè jiàn shì qíng méi yǒu shén me jīng yàn kě tán

在我之前没有人做过这件事情，没有什么经验可谈

There’s no experience because nobody did this before

suǒ yǒu de dōng xī dōu shì yào wǒ shǒu gōng qù zhì zuò

所有的东西都是要我手工去制作

All the things are made with my hands

yī biān zuò yī biān hǎo duō dōng xī tā zì rán ér rán jiù chū lái le

一边做，一边好多东西它自然而然就出来了

Many works take shape naturally in the middle of creation

wǒ de běn kē hé yán jiū shēng dōu shì zài zhōng yāng měi shù xué yuàn dú de

我的本科和研究生都是在中央美术学院读的

I got both my B.A. and master’s degree in Central Academy of Fine Arts

qù dà lǐ zuò yún nán zhā rǎn de yán jiū shì yīn wèi yán jiū shēng de bì yè chuàng zuò

去大理做云南扎染的研究，是因为研究生的毕业创作

I went to study zaran in Yunnan for my graduation portfolio

nà gè cūn zi shì quán yà zhōu zuì dà de bái zú cūn luò

那个村子是全亚洲最大的白族村落

That was the biggest Bai ethnic village across Asia

wǒ kàn dào le zhā huā de bù zhòu nà zhǒng gǎn jué shì wán quán pū miàn ér lái de zhèn jīng

我看到了扎花的步骤，那种感觉是完全扑面而来的震惊

I was totally shocked when I saw the steps

zhè xiē jī lǐ fēi cháng fēng fù fù zá yǒu lì liàng

这些肌理非常丰富、复杂、有力量

The texture was rich, complicated, and powerful

zhēn de kān chēng yì shù pǐn

真的堪称艺术品

It was art

wǒ gǎn jué zhè jiù shì wǒ yī zhí zài zhǎo de nà gè dōng xī

我感觉这就是我一直在找的那个东西

And I realized that was what I had been looking for

wǒ zài dú shū de liǎng nián dāng zhōng měi yī nián yǒu yī bàn de shí jiān huì zài nà biān

我在读书的两年当中，每一年有一半的时间会在那边

During my two years in the graduate school, I spent half of my time there each year

cóng líng kāi shǐ tòng bìng kuài lè zhe

从零开始，痛并快乐着

I started from scratch and the time was bittersweet

zǎo shàng yíng zhe cāng shān pá dào bàn shān yāo dào gōng fāng lǐ biān qù

早上迎着苍山爬到半山腰，到工坊里边去

In the morning I went to the workshop halfway up the Cang mountain

wǎn shàng gōng fāng dōu xià bān le

晚上工坊都下班了

In the evening, the workshop closed

wǒ jiù yíng zhe ěr hǎi huí dào xiǎo lǚ diàn lǐ biān

我就迎着洱海回到小旅店里边

And I walked along the Erhai lake to return to the hotel

zuò de dì yī jiàn qí shí shì wǒ de bì yè chuàng zuò

做的第一件其实是我的毕业创作

The first piece was actually my graduation work

jiù shì zhè gè shā fā

就是这个沙发

The sofa

wǒ xī wàng wǒ de zuò pǐn gèng yǒu zhāng lì

我希望我的作品更有张力

I wish my works are more powerful

xiàng nǐ kàn dào de chù jiǎo

像你看到的触角

Like the tentacles you see

bǎ gōng yì de zhè zhǒng yuán shǐ xiào guǒ gèng kuā zhāng gèng fàng dà

把工艺的这种原始效果，更夸张更放大

I enlarge the craft’s original effect to make it more exaggerated

hái yǒu yī xiē shí yòng lèi de xiàng kào zhěn

还有一些实用类的，像靠枕

There’re some functional pieces such as cushions

tā yī dìng yào yòng zhí wù rǎn liào chún mián huò chún má

它一定要用植物染料，纯棉或纯麻

You have to use plant dye and cotton or linen

yún nán nà biān chū shēng sān tiān de xiǎo yīng ér

云南那边出生三天的小婴儿

In Yunnan, people would dress a baby only three days old with clothes

tā men yuàn yì gěi tā chuān shàng bǎn lán gēn rǎn sè de xiǎo yī fú

他们愿意给他穿上板蓝根染色的小衣服

Which are dyed with isatis root

yī wèi shōu cáng zhě tā jiā lǐ biān yǐ jīng yǒu hěn duō wǒ zuò de dōng xī le

一位收藏者她家里边已经有很多我做的东西了

A collector has already collected a lot of my handicrafts

zuì jìn tā jiā lǐ zài zhuāng xiū

最近她家里在装修

Recently she is renovating her house

tā shuō hěn xiǎng shōu cáng yī jiàn jiā jù

她说很想收藏一件家具

And she says she really wants a piece of furniture made by me

hěn xǐ huān yuán xíng de yáo yǐ

很喜欢圆形的摇椅

She likes a round rocking chair very much

zuò zài lǐ miàn jiù xiàng zuò zài yī gè huā duǒ lǐ biān yī yàng

坐在里面就像坐在一个花朵里边一样

It’s like in a blossom when you sit in it

yī kuài zhā rǎn de bù shǒu xiān wǒ men yào zài shàng biān huà chū huā wén

一块扎染的布，首先我们要在上边画出花纹

In order to create a piece of tie-dyed cloth

zài yòng zhēn hé xiàn bǎ huā wén fèng zhì qǐ lái

再用针和线把花纹缝制起来

First you need to draw the pattern, and then make stitches with a needle and thread

zhā wán huā zhī hòu bǎ zhè kuài bù fàng dào shuǐ lǐ biān pào yī xià

扎完花之后，把这块布放到水里边泡一下

Next soak the cloth in water

zài fàng dào rǎn gāng lǐ miàn qù rǎn

再放到染缸里面去染

And dye in a vat

wǒ men yào bǎ rǎn gāng jiǎo yún ràng lǐ miàn de huó jūn huó yuè qǐ lái

我们要把染缸搅匀，让里面的活菌活跃起来

You need to stir the liquid well in the vat to make the pigment more active

gēn jù wǒ men yào de yán sè de shēn qiǎn chéng dù què dìng wǒ men yào rǎn jǐ biàn

根据我们要的颜色的深浅程度，确定我们要染几遍

And you should decide how many times to dye based on the depth of the color you want

rǎn wán zhī hòu jìn xǐ gàn jìng

染完之后浸洗干净

Clean after dying

zhè zhǒng tiān rán rǎn liào tā hěn jiāo qì bào shài de huà huì yǐng xiǎng tā de zhe sè

这种天然染料它很娇气，暴晒的话会影响它的着色

Strong sun would affect the coloring as the natural pigment is really delicate

yīn gàn le yòng nà zhǒng dài yī gè xiǎo gōu zi de jiǎn dāo bǎ xiàn chāi kāi

阴干了，用那种带一个小钩子的剪刀把线拆开

After drying in the shade, cut the threads using a pair of scissors with a small hook

chāi kāi zhī hòu jiù shì zuì zhōng xiǎng yào de zhè kuài zhā rǎn bù

拆开之后，就是最终想要的这块扎染布

Then open the cloth and that would be your final work

wǒ hòu miàn de zhè jiàn zhuāng zhì jiù shì wǒ duì dāng dài yì shù de zuì zǎo de yī gè cháng shì

我后面的这件装置，就是我对当代艺术的最早的一个尝试

The device behind me is my earliest contemporary artwork

shì zài yún nán chuàng zuò chū lái de

是在云南创作出来的

It was created in Yunnan

bái zú de zhè xiē ā yí zhè xiē fù nǚ

白族的这些阿姨、这些妇女

The Bai ethnic women

tā men zuì zhōng chéng xiàn gěi wǒ men zhè me zhuàng guān de gōng yì hé sī xiǎng

她们最终呈现给我们这么壮观的工艺和思想

They show us such a magnificent craft and creative ideas

yǐ jí tā men gǔ zi lǐ miàn de nà zhǒng jiān rèn

以及她们骨子里面的那种坚韧

And their great toughness

dàn shì wǒ men dào yún nán dāng dì qù kàn tā de yī kuài zhā huā bù jià gé bìng bù gāo

但是我们到云南当地去看它的一块扎花布价格并不高

But a piece of tie-dyed cloth is cheap in Yunnan

ràng wǒ yǒu diǎn jiē shòu bù le

让我有点接受不了

I can’t accept it

nà wǒ yòng bàn chéng pǐn wèi sù cái qù zuò wǒ de zuò pǐn

那我用半成品（为素材），去做我的作品

So I create with semi-product as the material

qí shí yě shì xiǎng ràng gèng duō de rén le jiě dào

其实也是想让更多的人了解到

I want more people to know

zhè gè gōng yì tā qí shí zhōng jiān de huán jié yě shì zhè me de fēng fù duō cǎi

这个工艺它其实中间的环节也是这么的丰富多彩

The skill has such a rich and colorful process

zhā qǐ lái de zhuàng tài de tú àn jiù shì wǒ zhòng xīn shè jì de

扎起来的状态的图案就是我重新设计的

The tied-up pattern was re-designed by me

wǒ huì ná zhe zhào piàn huí dà lǐ qù gěi tā men kàn

我会拿着照片（回大理）去给她们看

When I returned to Dali to show them the picture

tā men kàn le zhī hòu shuō wa nǐ zhè gè hǎo piāo liàng

她们看了之后说，哇你这个好漂亮

They were like ‘wow, it’s gorgeous’

zhè gè shì mǎ yá chǐ de zhā fǎ nà gè shì xiǎo méi huā de zhā fǎ

这个是马牙齿的扎法，那个是小梅花的扎法

‘You use the mayachi skill here and the xiaomeihua skill there’

wǒ shì jué dé dà jiā shì dī gū le gōng yì de jià zhí de

我是觉得大家是低估了工艺的价值的

I think people underestimate the craft’s value

hái néng gòu bǎo liú dào jīn tiān de zhè xiē gōng yì

还能够保留到今天的这些工艺

The crafts which are preserved until today

shì kě yǐ chēng dé shàng shì wǒ men guó jiā de cái fù

是可以称得上是我们国家的财富

They are the treasure of our nation

jiē xià lái wǒ jì huà qù guì zhōu

接下来我计划去贵州

I’m planning a trip to Guizhou

xī wàng bǎ qián dōng nán qián xī nán gēn là rǎn gōng yì xiāng guān de shǎo shù mín zú

希望把黔东南、黔西南跟蜡染工艺相关的少数民族

I want to go to the south-eastern and south-western parts of Guizhou

qù zǒu yī zǒu kàn yī kàn

去走一走看一看

To visit the ethnic groups which have the batik skill