To this paper-cutting artist, Shi Qinling, scissors are like what brushes are to painters, or what pens are to writers. Always having a pair of scissors on her also allows her to create art whenever inspiration hits. "Some people like to pen their feelings in diaries. I prefer to cut them out," says the 35-year-old, who is currently working at the Fenglin community cultural activity center in Shanghai.
Shi developed an interest in handicraft(手工艺) when she was a child who often found herself alone at home. Out of boredom, she would play with paper, folding and cutting them into different shapes. This interest later developed into a passion, one that she decided to pursue by majoring in arts and crafts design during her time in university.
After graduation, however, she found herself working at a ship design company as she was unsure about what she wanted to do with her future. About a year later, the Shanghai Arts and Crafts Research Institute offered her a position in their paper-cutting department. Realizing that she still had a love for the craft, she switched her career.
In 2010, she started learning paper-cutting from Xi Xiaoqin, the national inheritor(继承人) of the intangible cultural heritage(非物质文化) for paper-cutting. Three years later, one of her works, The Fighting Fish, won third place at the Baihua Cup, a competition for Chinese arts and crafts. Six years later, Shi was named a Shanghai paper-cutting inheritor and become the city's "youngest inheritor" of the paper-cutting heritage.
