Carving on Eggshells: Patient touch required for making delicate works of art

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The hidden colors of an eggshell can be revealed by paring layer after layer away. But it takes a careful hand and a lot of patience. One master at this form of art has seen images of his work go viral recently. Our reporter Hu Chao takes us to north China's Shanxi Province to meet him.

Heat up a pot of tea, take a seat and start carving. This is how Wang Chengxiao often spends his days, since he fell in love with eggshell carvings two decades ago. He first carves on a raw egg. Afterwards, he will drill a small hole and empty it. It usually takes about a month for Wang to complete one piece. So far he's created over 80 eggshell carving works.

HU CHAO TAIYUAN, SHANXI PROVINCE "Eggshell painting requires patience. Wang told me he often sits there doing the carvings for hours. But he never feels it's boring. Instead, he often feels a sense of peace while doing the art work."

WANG CHENGXIAO TAIYUAN, SHANXI PROVINCE "You have to cope with loneliness. Every piece of work takes me a fairly long time to complete. But I enjoy the process a lot, because I can realize my artistic ideas through the carvings."

Cutting into an eggshell reveals different colors, layer by layer. Wang's works embrace features of traditional Chinese paintings, often portraying landscapes and portraits. An egg with a dark color and a surgical knife blade are all it takes to complete a carving. Wang says he loves art created in a simple way.

WANG CHENGXIAO TAIYUAN, SHANXI PROVINCE "I enjoy traditional and simple art forms. And I believe eggshell carvings work well as art, because they are a natural carrier of color."

One of Wang's works was sold to an art lover for about ten thousand yuan. And some other pieces also sold for thousands of yuan. But later Wang started to reject all buyers.

WANG CHENGXIAO TAIYUAN, SHANXI PROVINCE "I've always had a wish to open an exhibition of my eggshell art works. But it takes time for me to build up a number of works. So now I don't sell any of my works anymore. I hope my wish will soon be fulfilled."

Hu Chao, CGTN, Taiyuan, Shanxi Province.