Thu Mar 20, 2025
I received a batch of xuan paper sent from China. It is known as “Cicada’s Wing,” referencing the Chinese idiom “薄如蝉翼” (“as thin as a cicada’s wing”) to describe something extremely thin. The paper is indeed very thin—almost translucent—but it’s also remarkably resilient, making it suitable for writing and painting.
The idea of starting with a change in paper was inspired by Kibong Rhee. I watched a video of his working process. Initially, I thought the hazy effect in his work came from tools like rollers, spray guns, or wet-on-wet watercolor techniques. But the video revealed that he achieved this blurred effect using translucent materials such as tracing paper or silk as masking layers. I found this fascinating, so I purchased this ultra-thin xuan paper to experiment with.
However, printing on xuan paper presented many challenges. First, it cannot be softened by soaking in water—it’s too thin, yet not soft enough. As a result, the fibers don’t make proper contact with the inked lines on the cardboard, and I ended up with many broken lines. I discovered that it requires a great deal of pressure to produce a clear print.
Additionally, the paper wrinkles easily. When I sprayed water on its surface to moisten it slightly, it would dry quickly and begin to crease. Another limitation is that this kind of thin paper is difficult to produce, and its size is restricted, so I could only print in smaller formats for now.
That said, the hazy visual effect it offers is truly beautiful, so I continued to work with it enthusiastically and made more prints. There’s also a legend about “cicada’s wing” paper. During the Qing Dynasty in China, there was a particularly cruel punishment involving xuan paper: sheets soaked in water would be placed one by one over a prisoner’s nose and mouth. Because the paper is so thin, the victim would slowly suffocate. The prolonged process of dying made the punishment especially brutal. It’s chilling to think that such a delicate, translucent material carries such a heavy and suffocating weight in history.