Professor Cui Pengfei of the Central Academy of Fine Arts and Ms. Li Xiaoyun, a Lacquer Art Artist, Visit Chuangxinlong for Investigation and Exchange

From March 7th to 8th, 2025, Professor Cui Pengfei from the School of Architecture of the Central Academy of Fine Arts and Ms. Li Xiaoyun, a lacquer art artist, visited Chuangxinlong for investigation and exchange. Wang Yizheng, the Chairman of Chuangxinlong, Tang Quan, the General Manager, and Liang Wei, the Deputy General Manager, etc., participated in the reception. The two sides had in-depth discussions centered around the artistic innovation of soft stone products, the design of bathroom ornaments, and aesthetic practices, and put forward valuable suggestions for the future development path of the enterprise.

As one of the first batch of teachers in the School of Architecture of the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Professor Cui Pengfei has been deeply engaged in the field of architectural aesthetics for more than 30 years. In his teaching and practice, he has always emphasized "the humanistic expression of spatial aesthetics" and has carried out rich explorations in basic spatial teaching, making important contributions to the theoretical system of contemporary Chinese architectural aesthetics.

Ms. Li Xiaoyun graduated from the Jewellery Design major of the Central Academy of Fine Arts with a bachelor's degree and from Kanazawa College of Art and Design in Japan with a master's degree. She studied under Mr. Shinya Yamamura, a national treasure-level lacquer art master in Japan, and studied at the Uchinoyama Craft Workshop in Kanazawa for many years. Ms. Li further expanded and carried forward Mr. Yamamura's simple and exquisite creative style and put forward the concept of "everything can be lacquered". She is especially good at integrating exquisite jewellery design with traditional lacquer art techniques, demonstrating the infinite possibilities of lacquer art. Her works have been exhibited many times in domestic and international exhibitions and have received widespread acclaim.

Highlights of the Exchange: Aesthetics Empowering Industrial Upgrading

During the two-day exchange, Professor Cui and Ms. Li visited Chuangxinlong's bathroom and soft stone product laboratories and production lines, showing great interest in and affirmation of Chuangxinlong's journey from a bathroom craftsman to a pioneer in the soft stone industry. Professor Cui pointed out that Chuangxinlong's transformation from a handicraft factory to a pioneer in the soft stone industry, although the products seem completely different, essentially adheres to the spirit of aesthetics and craftsmanship, with an inherent inheritance and unity. Taking travertine as an example, Professor Cui pointed out that in the past, architectural artists wanted to express architectural aesthetics with travertine, and the cost per square meter was as high as thousands of yuan. Moreover, natural stone inevitably has various visual defects, so there is a very high threshold for realizing architectural aesthetics. The birth of the soft stone industry has completely unleashed the imagination of architectural artists. Whether it is the texture or the color, it can be customized according to the artists' expression requirements, achieving a transformation from "passive selection" to "active design", and the aesthetic expression is more perfect. At the same time, the price has also been greatly reduced, enabling the large-scale use of aesthetics to empower the upgrading of the traditional construction industry.

Adhering to the concept of "everything can be lacquered", Ms. Li Xiaoyun put forward an innovative concept for the design of bathroom ornaments: "Integrating lacquer art techniques into the texture of the ornaments and enhancing the artistic value of the ornaments through the warm luster of lacquer may bring a different feeling", which triggered a heated discussion on cross-border products of "traditional techniques + new materials".

Future Prospects: Technological Change and Aesthetic Narration

Both sides agreed that bringing aesthetics into life and serving the public with art are the common goals they pursue. In the future, the two sides will focus on technological change and aesthetic narration, combine their respective strengths, and promote more cooperation step by step.

Conclusion

From a handicraft "workshop" in 2001 to a pioneer in the soft stone industry in 2025, Chuangxinlong's transformation over 24 years confirms the business philosophy of "the resonance between technological innovation and aesthetic pursuit". As Professor Cui Pengfei said: "When a piece of soft stone can not only pave the epic of a building but also turn into the poetry on the desk, this is the best footnote for the leap from 'Made in China' to 'Created in China'."