湖北省大冶市汪仁鎮(zhèn)的農(nóng)民王分忠怎么說也算個人物。他15歲開始學(xué)裁縫，學(xué)了兩年就超過了自己的父親，后來又在大隊當(dāng)了幾年會計。不過讓王分忠聲名遠(yuǎn)播、名揚海內(nèi)外的，并不是他的裁縫和會計活兒，他能成名，靠的是他的絕活：布雕藝術(shù)。

中國布雕完全由民間工藝美術(shù)家王分忠發(fā)明，這個工藝被譽為“中國民間工藝一絕”，它“震動了中國乃至世界的工藝”。布雕，便是采用布和繪畫技法相融合，并與改進(jìn)的烙鐵、刻刀等工藝相結(jié)合形成的一種繪畫藝術(shù)，它集雕刻、剪紙、圖畫、油畫、版畫等古今中外美術(shù)、書法工藝之大成，被人們譽為工藝美術(shù)園地的一朵新葩。

《十美圖》改變了他的一生

1960年3月，王分忠出生在大冶汪仁鎮(zhèn)王葉村，由于爺爺和父親都是當(dāng)?shù)赜忻牟每p，子承父業(yè)理所當(dāng)然，于是1977年當(dāng)時只有15歲的他，便跟父親學(xué)起了裁縫。

1981年初春，王分忠在王葉街辦起了第一家個體縫紉店，第二年便蓋起了二層樓房，日子越來越好，就在這時，一個老人的一幅布貼竟改變了他的一生：那是1985年的春天，一位老人遠(yuǎn)道而來走進(jìn)了王分忠的裁縫店，他氣喘吁吁地站定之后，便從懷里小心翼翼地取出一幅布貼畫，奉若神明似地將它展開在裁縫案桌上，然后他對王分忠說：“這是清末時期的布貼圖，叫做《十美圖》。年代久了，如今這布畫上的美女有的缺衣少裳，有的斷胳膊短腿的，我想用你的一手好手藝將它修復(fù)?！蓖醴种乙灰姶水?，猶如忽然間遇見了數(shù)載不見面的心上人，目光怎么也舍不得移開去!他看著、想著：“布貼畫怎么也能做得這么美啊！”

自從見了這幅布畫，王分忠就像丟了魂似地，他日思夜想，總想用布做出一幅漂亮的畫來。想著想著，頓時似乎有了靈感，他先用紙剪成畫樣，然后用漿糊將圖案貼在布上，接著便用他最熟悉使用的剪刀等各種工具，日日夜夜地泡在制布畫的工藝?yán)铩?/p>

為制布畫他丟下養(yǎng)家糊口、發(fā)家致富的裁縫生意，村人說他“不務(wù)正業(yè)”、“低級趣味”，還說他“吃牛肉發(fā)馬癲”，但他不管閑言碎語，不聽人勸告，只是一味地沉在布貼畫中，沉在他的《十美圖》中。

以布雕《清明上河圖》

登上藝術(shù)殿堂

王分忠一頭扎進(jìn)布畫藝術(shù)使他的家境每況愈下，但他仍然潛心研究，到處拜師學(xué)藝。他從中央電視臺《美術(shù)星空》中獲得啟迪：人家能使用各種手法讓美術(shù)作品升華，我為何不用自己熟悉的各種工具和手段呢?!他后來又選用了烙鐵，讓烙鐵通上電在布上一試，“嘿!還真是那么回事，布料上留下的坑坑洼洼以及各種圖案，其藝術(shù)感頓時呈現(xiàn)出來。接著他又試著將布和布粘貼，欣喜若狂地在大腦中產(chǎn)生了“布烙”構(gòu)想，他將要創(chuàng)作的意圖用復(fù)寫紙描繪在布上，然后用烙鐵來烙制完成，并將此繪畫手法稱作“布烙畫”。

1998年2月，王分忠的布烙畫《孔雀》入選湖北省農(nóng)民書畫工藝優(yōu)秀作品展，并榮獲三等獎，這讓他更加堅定了從事布烙畫的信心，進(jìn)一步調(diào)動了他的創(chuàng)作熱情。

1999年，王分忠的布烙作品《岳陽樓記》《金陵十二釵》等在黃石市舉辦的“國際乒乓球節(jié)”期間參展，一下子吸引了觀眾，大家說這是中國民間藝術(shù)一絕，是當(dāng)代畫壇綻開的一朵奇葩!在觀眾和文化界朋友的鼓勵下，王分忠再三斟酌，決定用布雕形式來制作宋代名畫《清明上河圖》。

王分忠的創(chuàng)作靈感進(jìn)入亢奮期，花了一年多時間，經(jīng)過多次研制，他創(chuàng)作的卷布雕仿畫《清明上河圖》終于問世，為此畫他一下子瘦了5公斤!

王分忠聲名鵲起，作品開始走向世界，東南亞、美國、日本等國都有人收藏他的布烙畫，中國作協(xié)副主席蔣子龍看到他的布雕作品后，欣然題詞：“大道無術(shù)”。

《漢宮春曉圖》讓布雕走向世界

2003年王分忠的布雕作品《漢宮春曉圖》在“湖北省民間藝術(shù)之鄉(xiāng)農(nóng)民畫展”中獲創(chuàng)作金獎，另一幅布雕《白梅圖》獲銅獎；2004年王分忠的布雕《五百羅漢圖》在“湖北省民間藝術(shù)之鄉(xiāng)成果展”中獲創(chuàng)作金獎，布雕《大江東去》四條屏獲銅獎。王分忠創(chuàng)作的《五百羅漢圖》長22米，寬0.35米，系根據(jù)清代許從龍所繪的《五百羅漢圖》仿制，畫中每個羅漢個性鮮明，神態(tài)生動，或慈眉善目妙相莊嚴(yán)，或端坐樹下閉目凝思，或徜徉巖畔竊竊私語，或馭獸跨禽怡然自得，或乘風(fēng)踏浪拄杖出游，整個畫面構(gòu)圖嚴(yán)謹(jǐn)，虛實得當(dāng)，人物形象生動自然，匠心獨運，體現(xiàn)出王分忠深厚的布雕藝術(shù)功力。這幅畫卷的雕制，王分忠費時兩年零三個月。

2005年4月，王分忠應(yīng)韓國亞洲文化藝術(shù)研究會的邀請，攜帶他精心制作的《五百羅漢圖》《白梅圖》等參加亞細(xì)亞美術(shù)展，作品得到韓國、馬來西亞等國藝術(shù)家的贊賞。他的作品《梅蘭竹菊》，還作為國禮，由中方贈送給日本。韓國世界文化研究會會長姜信雄觀賞了《五百羅漢圖》長卷和《白梅圖》贊嘆不已，熱情邀請王分忠和他一起在《白梅圖》前合影留念；美國友人路祈先生看到王分忠的布雕藝術(shù)后，親自來到湖北上王分忠家拜訪，他稱贊這是一門難得的藝術(shù)，提出與他合作開發(fā)，以使這門神奇的布雕藝術(shù)走向國際市場。

A Tailor Cuts Wonders on Fabrics

By Ke Xiaojie

No one would dispute the reputation farmer Wang Fenzhong enjoyed at his rural home village in Central China's Hubei Province. He began learning the family's tailoring trade in 1977 when he was 15. Two years later， the teenager became a tailor better than his father. Later he worked as an accountant at the village production unit for a few years， which was viewed by many older villagers as something really wizardly. Today， Wang's reputation has gone international. However， the fame is neither about his masterful needlework nor about his skillfulness in accounting. His international repute yields from his peerless art: fabric sculpture.

Wang's art is one of its kind. He paints on fabrics， and polishes the painting with tools such as renovated searing iron and cutting knives. His unique art embodies the essences of carving， paper-cutting， drawing， oil-painting， printing and calligraphy， to name just a few important elements.

In the early spring of 1981， the experienced Wang set up his own tailor shop in the village and his business flourished. One year later， he had made enough money to build a house of his own. Wang would have remained a good tailor if an old man had not walked into his life one day in the spring of 1985.

The stranger had come all the way to Wang's shop. With utmost care， he unfolded a collage painting on the cutting table. He said piously that it was a collage masterpiece created in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) and that its name was Ten Beauties. Due to the wear and tear of the long decades， many important details in the painting had been lost. The old man asked the young master to restore the piece with his craft. Wang fell in love with the antique artwork at the first sight. He just could not tear himself away from it.

Charmed by the fabric masterpiece， the young tailor kept wondering if he could create something as beautiful as the Ten Beauties with fabric. In experiments， he cut fabrics and glued the parts together to create his own collages.

As Wang devoted himself to the new art， his business went sour.Villagers commented that he did not attend his business properly. But he persisted.

One day he got an inspiration while watching a CCTV program. Why not use some special tools and new approaches to create a collage? He asked himself this ground-breaking question. He used an electric iron to sear the fabric and the results were very encouraging and exciting. He knew he was on the right track to something totally new. He groped and developed new skills.

In February 1998， his artwork won a third award at the province's arts and crafts competition for farmers.

In 1999， he exhibited his masterpieces at an international table tennis festival in the province. His fabric sculptures caused a huge stir. Thrilled viewers confirmed that they had never seen anything like this before. Encouraged， Wang decided to recreate an ancient masterpiece on a piece of cloth in the form of his new art.

He was hugely inspired. The following year saw him totally submerged in his work. By the time he finally transplanted his original ideas and the ancient painting to a fantasy on a piece of fabric， he had had weight loss of 5 kilograms.

Wang's reputation as a unique artist has grown. Overseas collectors now go after his masterpieces. Since 2003， his large-scale fabric sculptures have won gold awards in the province's art competitions. In April 2005， he attended the

Asia Arts Show in South Korea and displayed two of his works: the 22-meter-long 500 Arhats which took him two years and three months to complete， and White Plum Flowers. His marvels won warm applause from artists of other countries. One of his works has been presented to Japan as a state gift by the Chinese government.

(Translated by David)