Chinese Lute Player
The original painting measured 44 x 58cm. and was painted in Mixed media
I was in Singapore just after the Chinese New Year and was lucky enough to catch a Chinese Cultural Dance performance near where we were staying. I was entranced by the richness of the costuming and the telling of a story through traditional dance movements and music. This musician, could symbolize the combination of both the modern and traditional aspects of China so I used the colors gold, red and black, that I think we relate to being important to Chinese culture, to help emphasize this.
The background is an imitation gold leaf placed over a red textured background which I have then sanded back to reveal the red ground. The face and arms are pastel. For the dress I have used a net fabric and plain white pieces of cotton fabric which I glued in place and then painted on with acrylic paint. The instrument has a face of textured paper which I’ve painted to look like wood and the strings are embroidery thread and other small pieces are glued onto the shape and then painted.
