Craft is not a relic of history. It is a living asset of creation.

-Chen Lifan's Creative Notes

In my creative journey, I constantly explore the nature of materials while reflecting on the essence of intangible cultural heritage and why I persist in promoting it. For me, craft has never been merely a form of expression—it is a language of creation, a medium through which I weave thought, emotion, and time into form.

My current work centers on velvet flowers, with wrapped flowers as a supporting element. Velvet flowers, with their soft texture and rich gradients of color, are like the most saturated brushstrokes in my visual vocabulary. Wrapped flowers, on the other hand, provide structure and extension—like flowing lines that shape the rhythm of a painting. Together, they form a balanced composition: velvet blooms anchor the eye, while wrapped leaves guide the gaze like veins.

Lately, I’ve begun working with pith paper. Since it’s unavailable in Taiwan, I’ve had to source it from elsewhere—though I’m committed to eventually replacing it with local materials. Pith paper is small in scale but irreplaceable in its translucent texture and pliability. When dry, it breaks easily; when wet, it resists shaping. It feels like something between cloud and paper—an organic material that breathes with a sense of unpredictable vitality.

I do not pursue realism. In my view, the true flower of life possesses an irreplaceable breath and spirit. What I aim to create is a different kind of vocabulary—a flower that carries thought, not mimicry.

Craft, to me, is a form of expression. Each material is a stroke, a color. Velvet is saturation and softness. Wrapped silk is line and order. Pith is light and breath—a quiet presence suspended in air.

I even found myself wondering: What if transparent films were used in wrapped flower structures? Could they create a sense of "fragile translucence"—a presence that is broken yet whole, fragmented yet intact? Perhaps that would bring the flower closer to an abstract, poetic space.

The process of creation is not merely about finishing a piece. It is a continuous conversation—with techniques, with materials, and with myself. And through these conversations, I am ever more certain:

Craft is not a relic of history. It is a living asset of creation.