蠟像塑出的傳奇

韓笙

在中國東南一隅的三門縣里，我見到了這樣一個人，他用平凡的雙手臨摹人的杰作，竭盡心血來換取作品的永恒。

他叫鄭有嚴，是一位土生土長的老鄉(xiāng)、一位因患小兒麻痹癥而致瘸的殘疾人、一位遠近聞名的民間藝術(shù)傳承者、一位成功的文化產(chǎn)業(yè)創(chuàng)業(yè)家。

在他的身上，融合了秉性淳樸、身懷絕藝、眼光獨特、身殘志堅這一系列特質(zhì)，也給了我充分的理由去走近、去了解他的傳奇人生。

才藝心：不屈于命運

不高的個子，額頭上有些許皺紋，顯得清癯，但年已花甲的他常露出孩子才有的純真笑容，這是鄭有嚴給我的第一印象。

鄭有嚴不是一個特別能侃的人，他屬于那種用作品說話的藝術(shù)家。從他不多的言語里，一個“苦孩子”與命運斗爭的往事便像電影放映般徐徐拉開了帷幕。

兩歲時，鄭有嚴患上小兒麻痹癥，兩腿致殘。從懂事起，鄭有嚴就表現(xiàn)出對繪畫和書法的極大天賦和熱情。進入縣城三門中學讀書后，美術(shù)課成績一直名列前茅。初中畢業(yè)，他跟村里老工匠學油漆、學雕花。

上個世紀80年代初期，鄭有嚴已經(jīng)是四鄰八鄉(xiāng)頗有名氣的雕花匠了，同時，他也在生產(chǎn)大隊辦的橡膠廠里工作。有一次，他在縣城百貨公司看到穿各色服裝的模特，便想到經(jīng)濟發(fā)展了，模特需求量肯定會大增，廠里辦個模特制造車間不是挺好嗎？于是鄭有嚴張羅為廠里發(fā)展新業(yè)務(wù)——做石膏模特。

俗話說，隔行如隔山。雖然有著十幾年的雕花手藝，但如何做出合格的石膏模特產(chǎn)品成了鄭有嚴遇到的最大難題。正在此時，上海一外貿(mào)公司的石膏雕塑師傅鄭志躍退休回鄉(xiāng)養(yǎng)老，鄭有嚴喜出望外，立刻上門求教，拜老師傅為師。由于有著超于常人的藝術(shù)天賦和十幾年的雕刻功底，別人需要幾年才能學成的手藝，鄭有嚴僅僅花了三兩個月時間，便完全掌握了。

從因病致殘的無知孩提、懵懂歲月的求學少年、青年時期的雕花工匠，再到后來蠟塑領(lǐng)域的先驅(qū)藝人、江南地區(qū)首屈一指的蠟像藝術(shù)家，透著一股子憨勁兒的鄭有嚴，內(nèi)心深處其實一直都在經(jīng)歷著波瀾壯闊的心靈風暴。人生的一切災(zāi)難、折磨和不幸都成了他日后藝術(shù)創(chuàng)作的深厚底蘊和藝術(shù)營養(yǎng)。

技術(shù)心：不放過細節(jié)

1984年，鄭有嚴迎來了人生的第一個轉(zhuǎn)折點。為展示城市濃厚的文化底蘊，杭州市委托杭州工藝研究所恢復(fù)李漁、于謙、濟公等浙江歷史名人雕像。研究所找到了當時在石膏雕塑業(yè)已小有名氣的鄭有嚴，一番考察后，決定邀請他參與合作。而這次合作，不僅給鄭有嚴帶來了個人榮譽，也使他正式走上了蠟像創(chuàng)作之路。

在那次工作中，為了提高制作模特的水平，鄭有嚴和他的團隊在科研人員的幫助下，將人物像從石膏改為蠟注，這一改難度更大，從設(shè)計、澆鑄、脫模、上眼珠、修整、植毛發(fā)，到穿上各色服裝等，要經(jīng)過二十幾道工序。每道工序又有幾十道小工序。比如植發(fā)這一工序，要用針在酒精燈上烘燙后一根一根地“種”上去，需要六七天時間。

很多人知道英國倫敦有個杜莎夫人蠟像館，蠟像制作水準全球一流，鄭有嚴沒有親眼見過，一切從零開始。人物蠟像的塑造難度遠遠超出人們的想象。為了使人物形象更加逼真，鄭有嚴傾注了自己的所有心血。在對人物眉毛的取材上，他一開始選取人的頭發(fā)為原材料，但由于橫截面較為明顯，效果并不理想。于是，他又幾十上百次嘗試用各種動物毛發(fā)與不同人物進行匹配，最終才得以選定。

鄭有嚴在蠟像創(chuàng)作中，還解決了從二維空間到三維空間的轉(zhuǎn)換問題。我們的世界是三維的，把它畫成畫就成了二維。雕塑是從三維到三維，沒有維度轉(zhuǎn)換，相對比較容易。蠟像則不同。因為蠟像多是按照片來塑造的，被塑人物的眼皮有多厚、眼窩有多深、顴骨如何轉(zhuǎn)折和過渡，很難從二維的照片上判斷出來。鄭有嚴的做法是，做完一尊頭像，放在燈光下仔細端詳：五官的起伏凹凸形成的陰影必須與照片相同，甚至從鼻梁到鼻尖到鼻翼的高光形狀都要分毫不差！

正是由于鄭有嚴對作品近乎于嚴苛的態(tài)度，讓其作品漸漸進入大眾的視野，也讓他成為了中國最早一批從事蠟像創(chuàng)作的民間藝人。蜚聲全球的杜莎夫人蠟像館有著200多年的歷史，而蠟像藝術(shù)傳入中國，只是上個世紀80年代的事。那時候別說在小縣城三門，就是放眼全國，蠟像藝術(shù)都是鮮有人知的。

事業(yè)心：不錯失機遇

1987年，掌握了蠟像制作技術(shù)的鄭有嚴“下海”創(chuàng)辦高枧工藝美術(shù)廠，每年都有百尊左右的名人蠟像出爐。1989年，鄭有嚴為北京民族文化宮創(chuàng)作了一組展示西藏和平解放40周年的蠟像，系統(tǒng)地反映了西藏農(nóng)奴從解放到自立自強創(chuàng)造美好生活的進程。這組雕像不但造型逼真，皮膚質(zhì)感鮮活，而且呈現(xiàn)出人物性格和風采，一面世便贏得了“滿堂彩”。

可惜的是，當時對知識產(chǎn)權(quán)、非遺保護還沒有概念的鄭有嚴，更多地只是把制作蠟像當成“吃飯活計”，多年來，他靠著手藝幫一些設(shè)計院做“貼牌生產(chǎn)”的代工活計，沒有自己的品牌。一直到2005年，浙江省文化廳一個考察組來到鄭有嚴的蠟像制作基地，看到他制作的蠟像后，立刻被驚呆了?？疾旖M一位負責人說：“老鄭啊，你這個東西是文化產(chǎn)業(yè)，是一門絕活，應(yīng)該走出家鄉(xiāng)，到杭州、上海等大城市去做，把這個文化產(chǎn)業(yè)做大，做出檔次。”

一語點醒夢中人，直到今天，鄭有嚴還記著這位負責人的話，逢年過節(jié)都會發(fā)個短信去問候。在我的采訪中，他也數(shù)次提到了這位“指路人”對自己人生的巨大意義。

2005年剛過完年，鄭有嚴就帶著女兒、女婿來到杭州，成立了怡和蠟像藝術(shù)有限公司，主要負責銷售。隨著市場的不斷開拓，越來越多的客戶要求參觀鄭有嚴蠟像的制作基地，于是，2008年，老鄭把已經(jīng)在高枧安家數(shù)十年的蠟像制作基地搬到了距離機場更近的蕭山，注冊了杭州紅色源雕塑藝術(shù)有限公司。

幾年來，鄭有嚴創(chuàng)作了數(shù)千座蠟像，其中不乏偉人和名人：共和國領(lǐng)袖、科學家、藝術(shù)家、英模及歷史人物，遍布于包括湖北武漢的辛亥革命博物館、江蘇南通的紡織博物館、新疆巴州的州博物館和紹興的黨史紀念館等大型展館在內(nèi)的全國數(shù)百家博物館和紀念館中。有報道說，江浙滬地區(qū)70%以上的博物館都有他的蠟像作品。

家鄉(xiāng)心：不甘為游子

在三門采訪期間，不少人都在交談中表露出，鄭有嚴把創(chuàng)作和銷售中心設(shè)到杭州、蕭山去，是三門當?shù)亟?jīng)濟和文化的流失，似乎有些道理。但聽說鄭有嚴親手打造了“三門灣名人蠟像館”，又讓我徹底改變了想法。

這個蠟像館里，陳列著與三門有諸多淵源的十位名人，分別是陳霸先、趙構(gòu)、文天祥、戚繼光、孫中山、梅盛、鄭虔、羅適、葉兌和包定。十人中既有忠貞愛國的民族英雄、獻身革命的烈士，也有隱逸的高士、三門諸多氏族的先祖，其業(yè)績逸事至今仍被大家津津樂道。有意思的是，塑像全部由鄭有嚴和他的團隊制作，人物形象逼真。不少實地看過塑像的人都覺得，這不單單是鄭有嚴接的一筆“生意”，那些高質(zhì)量的蠟像，反映了鄭有嚴的家鄉(xiāng)情懷和對故土的熱愛。

近年來，高枧鄉(xiāng)大打旅游文化牌，政府希望鄭有嚴的蠟像藝術(shù)能夠重返故里。所以，鄭有嚴就把杭州的產(chǎn)業(yè)交給子女打理，自己回到高枧的舊廠房，著手忙起了蠟像新館的設(shè)計及主題展示研究。

“三門縣領(lǐng)導(dǎo)對我的事業(yè)特別支持，還特地來看望我，現(xiàn)在我正忙著設(shè)計蠟像新館，研究通過什么作品來展示三門的名人、三門的文化。我的舊廠房從制作基地轉(zhuǎn)化為文化展示基地的條件已經(jīng)成熟，我想在這幾年把它轉(zhuǎn)成人文景點，做成一個文化產(chǎn)業(yè)的展示基地。”鄭有嚴說，“我是從三門、從高枧走出去的，現(xiàn)在我想回到這片土地?！薄?/p>

（本文照片由鄭有嚴提供）

Legendary Master of Wax Figures

By Han Sheng

Zheng Youyan, a master of wax figures, is a native of Sanmen County in southeastern Zhejiang Province. Born in 1949, he was crippled at 2 by polio. As a boy, he showed an unusual talent for drawing and calligraphy. After graduation from the countys junior high school, he began to take lessons of painting and carving from village craftsmen.

By the early 1980s, Zheng had long since established himself as an excellent woodcarving craftsman and he worked at a rubber factory. While visiting a store in the county capital one day, he noticed some fashion dummies. Inspired, the young craftsman believed there would be a market for dummies. The factory planned to set up a workshop to make dummies. Zheng, however, did not have any idea how to make dummies. It just happened that Zheng Zhiyue, a fellow villager who had been working in Shanghai as a plaster statues sculptor for a foreign trade company, had retired and come home. Zheng Youyan went to the master and studied. Three months later, Zheng mastered the process.

The turning point in his career as a sculptor came about in 1984 when a Hangzhou-based institute for arts and crafts began to look for a master to make statues for historical figures of Zhejiang origin for public display. The institute came to Zheng Youyan, who had already established himself as a dominant player in the field. The people from the institute were satisfied with Zhengs capability and decided to hire Zheng to make statues.

It was a huge challenge. Zheng had made quite a few plaster figures. Now he was supposed to make wax figures. Zheng had never seen any real wax figures in his life. The self-made artist experimented and tried a lot of new procedures. One of the big problems he solved was to translate photos into three-dimensional wax figures. It was impossible to figure out accurate details of eyelids, eye sockets, and cheekbones. Photos were hardly accurate indicators. His solution was to put a sculpted head under light and compare shadow and light with the same details of the face in the photo. His idea was that if shadow, light and gloss all matched, then the wax face would have to be an accurate replica.

In 1987, Zheng set up his own business to make wax sculptures. For a long while Zheng was satisfied with getting orders and deliver products. It was not until 2005 when a group of experts from Zhejiang Culture Administration came to his business in Sanmen that Zheng learned that there was more for him to reach out and get. One expert wowed, totally amazed by Zhengs expertise and wax figures and pointed out that Zhengs business looked like a total industry and advised Zheng to set up his business in Shanghai or Hangzhou.

After the Spring Festival in 2005, Zheng came to Hangzhou with his daughter and son-in-law and set up a wax-figure company. He was in charge of sales. Based in Hangzhou, he opened up a huge market. As more and more clients wanted to see his workshops close at hand, in 2008, Zheng relocated his workshops from Sanmen to a location near the Hangzhou International Airport.

These years, Zheng Youyan has produced several thousands of wax figures: politicians, scientists, artists, model workers and historical personages for museums across the country. Hundreds of museums and memorials in China have his wax figures. It is said that 70% of the museums in Shanghai, Zhejiang and Jiangsu have his wax figures.

While in Sanmen, I talked with some local people. Some of them complained that Sanmen suffered some losses as Zheng now operates in Hangzhou. However, Zheng has contributed a great deal to the Museum of Historical Figures of Sanmen Bay in his home county. I visited the museum and thought there was no loss for the county. Zheng has moved back to Sanmen as the local government hopes he would come back to contribute to the prosperity of local tourism. Now, Zheng has moved back, leaving the business in Hangzhou to his children.

At present, he is planning a new was museum for Sanmen. He thinks it is now time to transform his old factory space into a cultural complex. He wants to turn it into a base of cultural industry. □