COLOURS, MOTIFS AND TECHNIQUES USED IN SELECTED AFRICAN AND CHINESE EXAMPLES
4.3 Utilisation of colour and materials Chinese colour
As a component of the traditional Chinese culture, traditional Chinese colours mirror the politics, economy, social life and folk customs, as well as the ideological values and aesthetical tastes of a particular era (Huang, 2011:9). The Chinese were the first people who knew how to use colour on a scientific basis. They established their colour structure by associating five basic colours (yellow, blue, red, black and white), respectively with the five fundamental elements of the universe (Which are earth, wood, fire, water and metal). By incorporating their ideas of the nature, ethics and philosophy in colours, the Chinese formulated a unique culture of colours (Zhao, 2012:3-6). The profound Chinese culture has nurtured a distinct value system of two colours in my mind: passion for red and worship for yellow. These two colours are the dominant ones in my product’s designs.
Red can be said to describe the Chinese nation, and it is the symbol of passion, auspiciousness, happiness, majesty, dignity, courage, and justice (Huang, 2011:21).
Since ancient times, the Chinese preferred something red on all festive occasions, because red was considered the most auspicious colour. For example, at Chinese weddings red absolutely dominates: the bride’s red dress, shoes and veil; the groom’s red gown, flower and band; red candles, quilt and sheet in the bridal chamber. All red elements bring the couple to the starting point of a married life. This practice is believed to ensure that their family’s offspring will survive for many generations (Huang, 2011:26-27). Red is also the colour of upper class status and the aristocracy and is used in imperial buildings, such as the Temple of Heaven (Figure 4.18). The red walls and yellow-glazed tile roofs could create a strong visual impact, interpreting the imperial power into a great boldness of vision (Zhao, 2012:37). I also wanted to bring a strong contrast vision on colour and to provide an obvious style of traditional culture.
Figure 4.18 The Temple of Heaven
(Zhao, 2012:37)
The Chinese love for the colour yellow has gone to the extent of reverence. Their respect and worship of the colour yellow is closely related to the tradition of the farming based civilisation (Huang, 2011:43). It originated in the Yellow River basin, where ancient Chinese turned the yellow earth into arable lands. They sowed yellow seeds in the lands and irrigated the lands with water from the Yellow River. Their hard work brought them good harvests of yellow grain. In addition to the close association with nature, yellow is also the symbol of power, wealth, brightness and wisdom. It was once used exclusively by the royal family and bears a strong religious connotation (Zhao, 2012:23-25). Figure 4.19 shows the Gold Crown unearthed from the underground Mausoleum of emperor Wanli at the Ming tombs in Beijing, and it illustrates yellow as the emperor’s colour in ancient China (Zhao, 2012:41). There is a wide range of application of the yellow colour in Buddhist architectures, monks’
clothes, as well as decoration in the monasteries (Huang, 2011:44). As a Buddhist, yellow represents my religion and personality, so it actually is ‘my colour’. I brought my own origin and roots through using yellow into the design.
83 Figure 4.19
The Gold Crown of Ming dynasty emperor (Zhao, 2012:41)
African colour
Colours are frequently symbolic of important messages in African art. Colour stimulates eyes and enhances emotions that are activated by human voices and dynamic bodies. The characteristics of African cultures are illustrated in their unique perception and visual expression of colour. Therefore, colour has become the most powerful approach of visual non-verbal communication in African civilization (African Art, 2014). Since 17000 years ago, African people simply painted animals and human figures using natural colours on rock, such as cave paintings which are typically naturalistic in style (see Figure 4.20). The primitive artists tried to naturalistically depict their experience and life in these visual representations. Symbolism is introduced in cave art through simplicity of form and shape (TARA, 2014). By this token, the colours of nature strongly represent Africa. I typically chose three natural colours: orange, brown and green, which are used to represent African colours for the design of the products in my range.
Figure 4.20 Egyptian cave painting
(TARA, 2014)
Orange is present in nature, in the setting sun, falling leaves, fruit, and flowers. It creates a sense of warmth, fruitfulness, brightness and cheerfulness. Brown equals earth and symbolises comfort and security (Feisner, 2000:119). They are largely used in African ceramics, jewelry and textile designs, as well as architecture. For example, orange and brown in the fabrics of African people are invested with important meaning. Orange is defined and linked to temperate and fine weather, while brown represents the richness and fertility of the soil. These colours are closely associated with people’s observations about the temperature and weather of the day, and the environment of nature (Dereje et al., 2011:230). There is an exquisite example of tie-died skirts and raffia shawls that are from the Ivory Coast, as shown in Figure 4.21.
The extremely fine tube-shaped braiding of multiple fibres is a real tour de force. The woman maker hooked a slubbing of fine strands to her big toe and interlaced them with the strands of another slubbing. This procedure is used for various items of clothing worn by both women and men (Bouttiaux et al., 2008:114-115). The colours of orange and yellowish brown strongly stand out from the black background and make for a deep, rich, warm and folksy scene.
85 Figure 4.21
Skirt and shawl braided raffia (Bouttiaux et al., 2008: 110-112)
Green is the largest colour family discernible to the human eye, which is why our feeling toward green can be so varied. Green is seen in the environment, growth and renewal in spring, fertility, freshness, nature, youth, health, peace and calm, things that are cool and refreshing, and wealth (Feisner, 2000:120). In African culture, green signifies the renewal and growth seen in plants and represents the cycle of birth and death. Figure 4.22 embodies an infinite variety of colour combinations, including red, orange, yellow, green, white and black. In this case a perfect balance is achieved between warm and cool colours, and the detail is especially well-crafted, showing off the technical skill needed in creating openwork6
6Ornamental work in cloth, metal, leather or other material with regular patterns of openings and holes.
. This colour design inspired me to combine red, orange, yellow and brown with green to create a harmonious, rich, and cultural colour combination for my unique product designs.
Figure 4.22
Cache-sexe cotton, glass beads and cowrie shells (Bouttiaux et al., 2008:115-116)