Silken touch

At 69, Chinese conceptual artist Liang Shaoji uses silk threads, cocoons and silkworm to make artworks. The entire Nature Series is a sculpture of life, time and nature. [Photo provided to China Daily]

"I often travel abroad and visit different cities. That's not what a hermit does," he says. "I want to follow the steps of those crazy monks to be enlightened here. But city life is too noisy for me to focus on art. I need quietness to stay with silkworms."

Liang graduated from the middle school attached to China Academy of Art in Hangzhou in 1965. He worked in a textile factory that produced carpets and tapestry. Later he became the director of the Institute of Arts and Crafts in Taizhou, Zhejiang province.

When he was 41, Liang went back to school to learn from Bulgarian artist Maryn Varbanov, who set up a studio in Hangzhou. Varbanov was a pioneer in incorporating textiles into installations and sculptures.

Liang created an installation named Yi Series - Magic Cube in 1988, incorporating silk fabric, dry cocoons, metal and rice paper, for the 1989 China/Avant-Garde show in Beijing, which exerted far-reaching influence on China's contemporary art.

As he prepared for the show, the light's shimmering effect on thin silk inspired the idea of using living silkworms as his art medium.

Liang started learning about sericulture. He wanted silkworms to spin on different surfaces, especially on metals. But even experts wouldn't believe that these tiny creatures could spin on metals. For months, the artist became something of a biologist, performing experiments again and again. Finally, he found a way to lead silkworms to spin on surfaces like metals, plastics, glass and porcelain. He puts so many silkworms together on the metal surface that the smell of silkworms overwhelms that of metal. He also changes the light based on the time of day to control their spinning route.

Because Liang's creation is slow, it took him four to five years to create enough works for a solo show. But the artist doesn't care much about his low production.

"I always re-create my works. My biggest work started in 1992 and it is still not finished yet," says Liang.