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This Artist Creates Incredible Works With The Discarded Fish Bones From His Plate

This Chinese artist certainly isn’t bone idle - as he creates astonishing works from just the cartilage of dead fish.

Lin Hanbing shuns traditional materials such as oils, inks or chalks to make his beautifully intricate pieces.

Instead, the 51-year-old saves discarded bones from his own plate and restaurant bins - which he then cleans up and uses in his art.

“Fish bones are beautiful,” he said.

“They’re shaped like the strokes of ancient Chinese calligraphy - primitive and elegant,” added the Gulangyu Island, Fujian Province, resident.

Hanbing, who graduated from an arts and crafts institute in 1989, said at first he struggled to convince friends and family about his work.

But he thinks his efforts have now been worth it.

This week he made headlines with “The Moment” - a representation of the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945) which he created for its upcoming 70th anniversary.

Hanbing said of the conflict known in China as the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression: “The Chinese easily forget the pain when the scar has healed, which makes me sad.”

He added: “Remembering the pain does not mean staying hateful, it is a reminder to us to empower ourselves - lagging behind makes us vulnerable to attacks.”

In “The Moment”, a fish bone can be seen cracked in the middle, with blood streaming down an opening - which is said to represent the backbone of China, which was broken during the conflict with Japan.

Some of his other recent works depict environmental issues, in line with his efforts to stimulate the minds of Chinese citizens and make them realise the need for environmental conservation.

Since 2006, he’s been the curator the Oriental Fish Bone Gallery, the first of its kind in the country, which now houses 100 masterpieces of fish bone art from his own collection of more than 1,000 works.

The small gallery on Gulangyu Island, off the coast of the city of Xiamen, now attracts about 100 visitors a day who pay around £2 for a ticket.

(All pictures credited to CEN)