Carving out a fruitful career

"If we can attract young people by creating patterns to their taste, they will be more likely to participate in our handicraft," she says.

To date, Zhu says she has divided her attention equally to promoting the art form and carving her own creations.

In Zhu's opinion, the key to pit carving is expressing ideas.

"It's the most difficult," Zhu says.

"Sometimes I feel like artwork has a soul and one can see the creator's views toward the world and life."

In her Dreamland series, Zhu conveyed her sense of loss and struggle toward her future path right after graduation.

The series features human figures that cover their eyes with their hands or have a contemplative look.

It was an inspiration from a world of explosive information, where people could be interrupted by various noises, she explains.

"I tried to present the abstract idea of calling people to face up to their inner voice and learn about independent thinking," Zhu says.

The works managed to reflect the inner world of people and got nominated at the Zijin Award Cultural Creative Design Competition hosted by the Jiangsu provincial government in 2017.

In 2018, Zhu's Suzhou Garden series was displayed during the China culture week in Tel Aviv in Israel.

"The girl is smart and willing to think outside the box," Xu says about Zhu.

"It was an extraordinary thing that she switched her career to fruit pit carving right after college and has carried it on," adds her master.

Xu speaks highly of Zhu's creativity, shown in her works featuring the motifs pertaining to the founding of the Communist Party of China and its emblem for the 18th national congress of the Communist Youth League of China.

As Zhu's works have been increasingly recognized by the public, she has been more strict with herself.

She has challenged herself to make full use of defects on some fruit pits, which might have been discarded before.

"Abnormal white spots will happen on some red or yellow fruit pits," she explains.

She seeks to turn those spots into part of her creation, such as the flame of a candle next to an old weaving woman.

Somehow, it has become her own style.

Speaking about the future, Zhu says she will continue to explore pit carving that is a distinctive characteristic of her hometown.

"The carving also benefits the creator, since it opens a dialogue with the heart, releases pressure and concentrates the mind on details," she says.