一位68歲的老婦人，時而手握大型鋸割切刀在粗大的樹根上來回切割、取料，時而用粗糙的雙手打磨一件件根藝作品。經(jīng)過她的這雙粗糙的巧手擺弄和打磨，原來粗糙和雜亂的樹根，頓時成了一件件美輪美奐的藝術(shù)品!不久前，這位農(nóng)家老婦人還站在中國美術(shù)最高殿堂——中國美術(shù)館敞亮的展廳里領(lǐng)獎，她的根藝作品《幻》，獲得中國第三屆根藝美術(shù)作品大賽銅獎和“劉開渠根藝獎”。此外，她的根雕作品《神鹿》，還榮獲浙江省96’根雕作品大賽金獎，并獲“省根雕新星”稱號。

老婦人叫歐陽小慧，一頭白發(fā)，一臉滄桑，你似乎很難把根雕這個需要藝術(shù)眼光與體力的行當與這位飽經(jīng)風霜的農(nóng)家老婦聯(lián)系起來。因為根雕一直被認為是男人的世界，多少年來省根雕美術(shù)協(xié)會和全國根雕美術(shù)協(xié)會一直沒有女會員，可不知從什么時候起，這個由男性獨霸的領(lǐng)域里卻開始晃動著一個農(nóng)家老婦人堅毅的身影：她披染著歲月風霜，飽浸著生活汁液，用粗糙的雙手，將一件件充滿野性、自然、藝術(shù)和透著靈氣的《長頸鹿》《雄鷹》《幻》《眺望新世紀》擺到你的眼前，她讓人不得不對眼前這位頭發(fā)花白的農(nóng)家老婦人刮目相看。我去她家的時候，她家里的客廳、房間、陽臺全都擺放著她的作品。前來參觀的北大教授、中國美院學生和老師等，看著這個農(nóng)家老婦人同她的獲獎作品《幻》，從一個平凡的農(nóng)婦到“劉開渠根藝獎”獲得者，其間所要跨越的天地、生活的積累、磨礪和努力之外，還要有對生命的滿腔熱情和對藝術(shù)執(zhí)著的感悟與靈氣。大家覺得連小學都沒有畢業(yè)的人能取出《幻》這樣的題目，真有點不可思議!是啊，看著那又像云層又像蘑菇又什么都不像的一件根雕藝術(shù)品，真的只有《幻》這樣的題目才可以表達其所蘊含的全部內(nèi)涵。

與她的交談中，我發(fā)現(xiàn)她對事物的直覺與敏感都富有藝術(shù)氣質(zhì)，她能把很平常的事物用帶有夸張但神似的狀態(tài)來表示，她家客廳里那只《神鹿》就有非?？鋸埖囊幻娴植皇д鎸嵏?。

歐陽小慧是浙江建德市千島湖前塢村人，她早年的經(jīng)歷讓她過早地懂得了生活的艱辛，過早地擔起了生活的重擔。她很小的時候因母親身體不好，父親又長年在外地做事，她就擔負起一家人的生活重擔。她十幾歲時就上山砍柴、放牛、耕田、種地，什么樣的農(nóng)活她都要做，什么樣的農(nóng)活都干得好，多苦多累的農(nóng)活她堅持著干，從不叫苦，在當時的生產(chǎn)合作社里，她一個小女孩卻掙著與男人一樣多的工分。她與動植物有著天然的親近，犁田時那些挺難伺弄的牛也聽她的話，只要是她犁地，牛便特別賣力。

她上山去砍柴、挖草藥，看到樹木、樹根格外有興趣，只是那時生活的重負，抑制了她心底萌動的藝術(shù)之芽。她對中醫(yī)也感興趣，拜師學醫(yī)后，常常獨自上山一樣一樣地辨認著草藥，然后一棵棵挖著回來晾曬、煎煮，有時也帶些花草或樹根等回來琢磨，沒有多久她便可以獨自給人看病了。一直到現(xiàn)在村里人誰家有個頭疼腦熱、小病小傷的，都會來找她看病，她一把草藥、幾根青藤就能手到病除，一直深受鄉(xiāng)親們的熱愛。

淳安山村一直都比較貧困，特別是歐陽小慧成家有了三個孩子后，生計更為困難了。特別是1980年她丈夫外出慘遭車禍，脊柱骨折癱倒在床，這便像天塌下來一般，但歐陽小慧硬是用自己生命力量迎接著這突如其來的打擊與災(zāi)難。她擦干眼淚，用堅忍、頑強同命運抗爭。漫長的歲月里，她帶著丈夫上醫(yī)院看病，想用自己的任勞任怨換回丈夫的健康，然而她抗爭了六年，丈夫還是離她而去。

她強忍淚水，抹去悲傷，堅強地重新扯起生活的風帆，決心把生活樂趣寄托在某件事物中。1991年一個偶然的機會，歐陽小慧看到電視里的根藝展覽，她被深深吸引住了。平時不起眼的樹根，竟然可以變得這么好看、有趣，這么美好有價值，熱愛自然的天性讓她覺得這就是她內(nèi)心一直想要表達與傾訴的有形的依托，或者說就是找到了人生的追求了!從此她把根藝當作人生一般地用心雕刻、打磨，迷戀上根雕這門藝術(shù)，走上了一條充滿艱辛與樂趣的根雕創(chuàng)作之路。

藝術(shù)讓人癡迷之處就在于它的苦樂與過程。于是她平時無論走路、勞動還是上山砍柴，都留意各色樹種的樹根：黃金樹、楠樹是上等的根雕材料，而平常的紫薇和雀梅，只要有創(chuàng)意，藝術(shù)效果也會不錯。她看到有價值的樹根都要千方百計地挖回來，有時碰到百十斤重的大家伙會想盡辦法拖回來，累了，坐在山路上歇一下，渴了，就著山泉喝一口，她要用自己的方式與自然對話，在自然中找到自己內(nèi)心所想表述的一切。她試著做了一些作品以后，找不到藝術(shù)感染力，為此她吃不香，睡不安，這時恰逢杭州舉辦根雕展覽，在兒子的鼓動下，她趕到省城杭州用心參觀，用心琢磨，她揣摸著這些作品的色澤、肌理，用直覺感受著藝術(shù)帶給人的神秘和喜悅，因為膽怯和對藝術(shù)的敬畏，她并不敢開口請教，把自己的迷惑和問題都放在心里。經(jīng)過無數(shù)次的琢磨、試雕和失敗，她看到自己的作品慢慢地成形了，成熟起來了，歐陽小慧的心里此時別提有多高興!

1995年下半年在千島湖龍山島上舉辦了一次根雕展，這次展覽讓她的根雕藝術(shù)更往前推進了一步。那次根雕展上，歐陽小慧遇到了浙江根藝美術(shù)協(xié)會的方國慶，方國慶對這位只有小學文化的農(nóng)家老婦人搞根雕覺得不可思議，當他去歐陽小慧的家里看到了她的根雕作品后卻感嘆不已，稱贊不已，他馬上就推薦她參加浙江省根藝美術(shù)協(xié)會，同年她又正式成為全國根藝美術(shù)協(xié)會唯一的女會員。一段時間以后她感覺自己知識的貧乏和不夠用，于是她想到了到老年大學去進修學習充實自己，她學繪畫、書法、篆刻、裝裱，整整五年從不脫課，她如饑似渴地吸收著各種知識，這使她的根藝創(chuàng)作如虎添翼。

藝術(shù)的魅力就在于能讓人全身心地投入其間，忘記苦樂，因為創(chuàng)作的過程就是一個探求、激發(fā)人潛能的過程。藝術(shù)是永恒的，追求藝術(shù)，有藝術(shù)相伴，人生總會更完美。

The Legend of a Root-Carving Woman

By Lu Penghong

It is hard to imagine how Ouyang Xiaohui， a 68-year-old silver-haired woman， could handle such heavy tools and carve wonders out of bulky roots. She is the very famous woman who won a top national prize for her work， a prize coveted by so many professional artists. She is an established artist now. For years， the Zhejiang Root Carving Artists Association and the National Root Carving Artists Association did not have a single woman artist until Ouyang Xiaohui came along.

If you examine her life story， you's notice that nothing seemingly suggests that she had an aptitude for art and that she would become an artist one day. Instead， you see poverty， family responsibility， and tenacity. She is a farmer in a village in Jiande City， Zhejiang， a coastal province in east China. The village where she lives is located in one of the poverty-stricken mountainous areas in the province. From childhood years on， she worked like an adult， taking care of her sick mother and working hard to make money while her father worked away from home. Her husband was crippled in a severe road accident in 1980 and died six years later. She worked in the fields and took care of her three children.

Then in 1991， a television program on root-carving she watched by chance changed her life forever. The trees and their roots had been almost a constant element in her life and can be seen everywhere around her village. How come a root could become so beautiful after you cut it here and there? Greatly fascinated， she was eager to try her hand at the art and she liked what she did with the roots. She began to focus her attention on all kinds of roots around her， wondering what she could do with them. She would dig and haul home the promising roots that could be used later.

The initial experiments on the root-carving， however， were not successful. The failure made her unable to sleep well， and food lost its taste. Then a root carving exhibition held in Hangzhou saved her from anxiety and frustration. Her son asked her to take a look at other artists?works. She traveled to Hangzhou and learned a great deal from the exhibits. After a few years of hard work and explorations， she gradually mastered the art and found her expressions in the roots she sculpted.

The second half of 1995 was a turning point in her new quest.A root carving exhibition was held at the Dragon Hill Island on the Thousand-Isle Lake near her home. At the exhibition， she met Fang Guoqing， an established artist from the Zhejiang Root-Carving Artists Association. Fang thought it was incredible when learning that this woman with only primary education had been enthusiastically creating serious sculptures on roots. He visited her at her home and highly acclaimed her sculpted creations. Pretty soon， Ouyang Xiaohui became a member of the provincial and national root-carving artists associations at Fang's recommendation.

Probably what she did later partly explains how she became versed in arts. To better explore the mysteries and wonders of the root carving art， Ouyang enrolled herself into the local college for senior people. For five years， she attended every class on calligraphy， painting， seal engraving， and paint mounting and studied assiduously.

Her sculpted root artwork entitled Fantasy won her a bronze award at the 3rd National Root Carving Artwork Competition and “Liu Kaiqu Root Art Award? Magic Deer， another of her masterpieces， won her the gold award at the 96 Zhejiang Root Carving Competition.

After learning her life story， her late-blooming art career， and the mystical inspirations of her works， you will probably find it hard to imagine she is just an ordinary 68-year-old farmer if you visit her at her home. But seeing is believing. Her house is virtually an art gallery of her masterpieces. The sitting room， the balcony， and rooms are full of her sculptures. The day I was there， some professors from Beijing University， some teachers and students from the China Academy of Fine Arts were visiting too.

Even after seeing and believing， you cannot help but wonder what else is shining through such an ordinary and extraordinary soul: passion for life and art， imagination， artistic perception， understanding and insight into hidden beauty， and eagerness for self-expression.

(Translated by Tian Jinjiang)