Reed and Tissue Paper Sculptures
The Lantern Festival
Although there are several lantern festivals throughout the world at any given time, the Chinese Lantern festival, also called the Yuan Xiao Festival, is the main one we identify with when we think of "lantern festivals".
Being held on the 15th day of the 1st month of the lunar new year in China, handmade lanterns are hoisted into the sky in celebration of deceased ancestors and promotes peace, reconciliation, and forgiveness. It brings forth the first full moon of the new lunar year and ends the previous Chinese year. It is believed that the celebration dates back to the Han Dynasty around 200BC when Buddhists monks would light the lanterns in honor of Buddha, while another legend says that the origins stem from the story of the Jade Emperor You Di who was furious his prized goose was killed, so he decided to lay waste to the town. The town was supposedly warned about the siege from a fairy who told them to light lanterns, which apparently fooled the Emperor into thinking the town was already on fire which made him decide not to attack.
How to build my own lantern...
Decide on your main form through sketches. Remember, it is 3-Dimensional so you will need to sketch from multiple sides and angles.
Gather your materials: Reed, Tissue Paper, Hot Glue and/or String, Liquid Starch mixed with water in a spray bottle
Determine the strength of the reed to use in certain situations. For the main body, you will need to use a larger gauge of reed and for the smaller details you will use a smaller gauge. This way, your main supports are sturdy.
Connect with hot glue and/or string wraps. Either way is effective depending on the type of connection: if it is a base structures or one of the main supports, the stronger hot glue would work better.
Cut the appropriate size of tissue paper with a little extra overhang to wrap around the reed structure.
Spray with water mixed with liquid starch (already pre-made) so as to ensure a stiffer and sturdier surface. If you do not desire liquid starch water, which is OK, then spray water works just fine.
Work in small sections at a time each day
Cut away or smooth down any excess tissue paper to give a smoother and more unified appearance
Let completely dry!
**As you're watching the video below, keep in mind a couple things:
You will not be using the corrugated plastic to keep it secure: you will wet, bend, and secure the reed overnight if you want it to keep a certain shape
You do not have to paint anything: you are allowed to keep it natural
If you want the reed dyed, you need to do it before construction
Reed and Tissue Paper Sculpture.pptx