Artisan seeks to preserve paper flower craftBy Wu Po-hsuan / Staff reporterHsu Kuang (徐光), an 83-year-old daughter of a “Qing Dynasty princess,” has a passion for flowers and has devoted much of her life to preserving their beauty through realistic waxed crepe paper flowers, a skill she hopes to pass on to younger generations. Artist Hsu Kuang stands next to one of her waxed crepe paper flower arrangements in Taipei on July 2. She first learned to make ribbon flowers, embroidery and leather carvings, but she unexpectedly fell in love with waxed crepe paper flowers during a visit to Japan when she was 30 years old, she said. However, these days, few people know how to make waxed crepe paper flowers, she said. Humbly calling herself an “artisan” rather than an artist, Hsu said waxed crepe paper flowers are made of imported crepe paper and must go through six procedures to create: shaping, plastering, coloring, waxing twice and varnishing.

Source: Taipei Times July 25, 2020 15:56 UTC