Shelling out

Four years later, Jiang made his way to the county's first State-owned shell carving plant, where he worked his way up from an apprentice to technical head and deputy plant director over the course of 40 years.

"Shell carving is different from jade, ivory or stone carving, and has a unique making method," Jiang says.

A shell carving often requires intense manual labor. A shell painting that is dozens of kilograms can consume 1 or 2 metric tons of raw material and takes two or three months of fine carving. A novice would need to spend a couple of months getting familiarized with the varieties of sea shells and how to select them.

"Most of the time, shells with smooth surfaces, bright colors and specific shapes are preferred," Jiang explains.

After that they are immersed in chemical solutions to get rid of the odor and impurities, before being cleansed and dried. Then, comes the design on paper, which includes an overall plan and paper patterns that are stuck to shells as references for the processing.

"One has to take advantage of every shell's shape and luster before collaging, polishing and carving," Jiang says.

Local artisans have ingeniously turned spotted shells into lifelike tree trunks and those with lines into hair buns.

"The collaging and carving is repeated to deliver different artistic effects," he adds.

In 2021, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Communist Party of China, Jiang sculpted red scallops into a model replicating the main body of the red boat on Nanhu Lake in Jiaxing, Zhejiang province, where the first National Congress of the Communist Party of China was concluded. The dark gray clam shells were used to look like buildings on the lake's banks, where trees and grass were fashioned out of shells with a tint of green.