NAYUKI CUPSEUM Project VOL.2: NI HAO, NEW YEAR

New Year falls! We are inviting the popular illustrator Cinyee Chiu to create 6 lucky animals.

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In this new volume, we’ve invited illustrator Cinyee Chiu to create six lucky animals. At the start of the new year 2020, six New Year's Cups painted with the lucky animals will be coming out!

Hope you receive the blessings from the lucky animals when holding a NAYUKI cup. For creating you a fresh try as ritual to step into the beginning of a new decade, KAI has planned a GOOD LUCK trilogy for your immersive experience.

 

 ROUND 1: HOLD the lucky animal and welcome the good luck 

 

 

/ 白鹿 / White Deer

May you succeed and rise in your career when holding this white deer in hand.


/ 貔貅 / Pixiu

May the fortune and luck fall upon you when holding the Pixiu (a Chinese mystical dragon).


/ 麒麟 / Qilin

May you get on a roll when holding the Qilin (an Asian mystical unicorn).


/ 凤凰 / Phoenix

May you meet your Mr/Ms. Right when holding the Phoenix.



/ 玄武 / Xuanwu

May you a safe and sound new year when holding Xuanwu (a Chinese mystical black tortoise).

 

 

/ 奈雪瑞兽 / NAYUKI Lucky Animal

Every dream will come true in the new year when holding this NAYUKI Lucky Animal in hand!

 

 ROUND 2: CARRY the lucky animal and stay with LUCK 

Live your every day with art.

 


  

 ROUND 3: Assemble the lucky animals and catch your GIFTS 

Find LUCK in your tea !

 

Open the tea box, and draw a lucky lot;

Drink the tea, and get your luck for today!



  

Get LUCK from the game!

a.Scan the logo and start taking your animals;

b.Gather 6 different lucky animals.

 



 Tips: Exchange your extra lucky animals with friends will help faster collection.

 Thumbs & Thumbs! 

The participants enjoyed a lot at the surprise on the 1st day of the new year. We feel happy to see them holding the Lucky Animal Cup in their hands, with full anticipation for the new year, and keeping them for storage, flower planting, and decoration.




 About the ARTIST 

 

 

Cinyee Chiu

Cinyee Chiu, a Chinese illustrator living in Colombia, graduated from the Maryland Institute of the Arts, expert in using watercolor, ink, collage, and other elements to superimpose and display the fantasy world of oriental aesthetics.

Cinyee's representative work "Twenty-Four Solar Terms", super hot on the Internet, integrates seasonal fruits and vegetables, weather, and myths, creating 24 corresponding "mascots" for 24 solar terms, where the changing four seasons can be seen through the animals' texture.

 

Q&A

Q:You have recreated the romantic imagination and beautiful meaning of lucky animals in ancient times through the works. Can you share how these 6 lucky animals were created? What details hide behind them about New Year's luck? 

A: These six are Pixiu for wealth fortune, White Deer for career fortune, Xuanwu for health fortune, Phoenix for love fortune, Qilin for almighty fortune, and the NAYUKI Lucky Animal that represents the dream comes true.

Apart from the White Deer and NAYUKI, all of them have pretty clear images. For instance, many illustrations about phoenix have been created thus it is easier to draw, while most Pixiu are just presented in statues, and it would be a bit more tricky to me. NAYUKI Lucky Animal is very particular, and I do love that it implies the dream will come true: the species once secretly buried in the heart has now sprouted, and it shall be guarded by the very unicorn of innocence.

 

Q:What's the best experience for you through this creation? And what's the most difficult part? 

A: The best would be the chance to search for mass information regarding lucky animals!

It's extremely tough to create Pixiu and Qilin. There are numerous illustrations about Qilin, while if I also painted in a Chinese-tattoo style, it would look pretty weird as a NAYUKI Lucky Animal, as the Qilin most artists painted have a quite clear Chinese-tattoo style: they have bulging big eyes, wide mouth, and cloud tattoo-like hair. Therefore, I must try to grasp this feature in real animals and consider what kind of animal it will be like. It appeared when I was reading the textual materials. 

Painting Pixiu is harder for me as only lots of lion-like statues and few illustrations are related to it. Some articles mention that they seem like leopards, then I tried this way. It is a majestic and fierce lucky animal, but this series is not supposed to show in a ferocious style.

 

Q:How do you feel when you know your paintings are held in hand by so many people? What's the difference between this particular presentation and that from the past? 

A: It's new to me! When you buy a drink, you will get a random lucky animal. It will feel like you were drawing for today's luck. If you get the Phoenix, it seems that you shall be blessed in love. Then I reckon that when they would imagine being blessed by this lucky animal today holding a cup, they are likely to be grateful and cherished for it. I would get pretty delighted when the cups can still be reutilized or collected, remaining my paintings in your living space in a various form, as if the lucky animals were really alive just because of YOU.

 

Q:Your popular work "Twenty-four Solar Terms" also integrates seasonal fruits and vegetables, weather and myths. How's your creation inspired by the traditional culture? 

A: Many Eastern traditional cultures and myths are full of fun in my eyes, yet there are still few extended creations and limited ideas for innovation compared with the Western ones. From this we see some new space to try as generally we are familiar with western mythology such as Hippogriff, Unicorn or Mermaid, while foreigners may merely know Dragon and Phoenix referring to Eastern mythology. Eastern traditional cultures are still pretty mysterious and metaphysical, leaving us a lot to explore.

 

Q:By integrating the traditional culture with contemporary aesthetics, your creation allows more people to re-understand and learn further about the traditional culture. Could you share your experiences and views on re-innovating the traditional culture?

A: As long as it's a traditional topic, you could never skip the "Chinese" visual style. So I would like to try to create Eastern figures in a western-style, and a very interesting collision may occur. It's the same idea when drawing four solar terms. More creations related to solar terms came out in the past few years, but actually we get a multitude of topics to move forward, such as astrology. They have various extensions for creating constellation in the west, yet in the east still few about the astrology. Many topics worth a play and they should turn the audience on and attract them to learn more about these cultures. I believe that foreigners are quite curious about Eastern culture! I have also drawn a book about the translation and analysis of "Tao Te Ching" (The Book of the Way) written by an American author. Compared to them, we hold more advantages in language and culture for interpreting Eastern traditional cultures.

 

Q:If these 6 lucky animals could speak, what New Year wishes do you think they will express to everyone who enjoys a cup of NAYUKI? 

Pixiu: Wealth and Harvest are in the air. Just open your arms and take them. 

White deer: The effort you spared will be paid, and your career and reputation will hit higher. 

Xuanwu: With stuck energy circulating again, your body relaxes, and your spirit calms down.

Phoenix: The ideal love is coming and you deserve the best. 

Qilin: You prepared everything that can make things happen, and now you have luck. 

Nayuki lucky animal: Now you are moving in the right way. Your wish will be fulfilled so get ready for a bright prospect.


May the lucky animals BLESS your 2020.

 

(*Many thanks for the photos of the products from NAYUKI official Wechat account.)