Chongqing - Deng Kun doesn't chase viral fame. Yet one short video of his chainsaw carving racked up over 7 million views. His wooden sculptures can sell for more than 100,000 yuan (about $14,000), and they're gone almost as soon as he finishes them.
Friends urge him to capitalize on his online popularity. He has posted just over a dozen videos. Collectors come looking for works to buy. He spreads his hands: "They're all sold." Villagers ask why he chooses to live year-round in the mountains. He smiles: "My roots are here."
Aug. 21: Deng Kun examines a wooden sculpture he created based on a local villager in his studio in Hufengshan Village. (Photo/He Saige)
Deng, 33, holds a master's degree in sculpture from the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute (SCFAI). But upon graduating, he didn't follow most classmates into urban art institutions. Instead, with 50,000 yuan (about $7,000) from early sales, he rented a farmhouse in Hufengshan Village, Zengjia Town, in Chongqing's High-Tech Zone, and settled there to live and work.
His studio sits halfway up Hufeng Mountain, a lush, mist-veiled ridge. The yard is carpeted with wood shavings. Lean and sun-tanned, in a frayed grey T-shirt and faded army-green rubber boots, Deng looks little different from the local farmers.
Aug. 21: Deng Kun demonstrates the chainsaw he uses for his creations in his studio in Hufengshan Village. (Photo/He Saige)
When asked to demonstrate his technique, he fires up the chainsaw and attacks a log, sawdust flying, the machine humming as he cuts, chops and shapes in one continuous motion. He calls this "chainsaw sketching", a departure from traditional fine carving that embraces a raw, bold and chunky aesthetic, preserving the wood's natural grain while delivering a fresh, visceral impact.
Deng's subjects are his neighbors: his landlady Aunt Liao, fashion conscious Sister Tang, the quiet Wu Laowu, Uncle Xie eating from a big bowl, Aunt Liu herding ducks home. Even the chickens jumping on stumps, the barking guard dogs, sleeping cats and a plump ear of corn become his chainsaw sculptures.
"I didn't start with the best hand in life," Deng jokes.
A wooden sculpture created by Deng Kun based on a local villager. (Photo/He Saige)
Born in 1993 into a farming family in Zhaotong, Yunnan province, he grew up watching his father, a rural artisan skilled in bamboo weaving and New Year painting, which sparked his love for art. He entered SCFAI in 2014 and soon distinguished himself. His undergraduate piece, Shan Hai (Mountains and Seas), won the E.LAND Scholarship and a nomination for the Zeng Zhushao Sculpture Award, and was collected by the China Sculpture Museum. He later earned his master's degree from the same institution.
His rural shift began in 2019, when he rented the Hufengshan house for 23,800 yuan (about $3,300) a year. After graduation, he chose to stay.
"Turning to chainsaw carving was my response to reality," he admits. Early on, he hired professional models for traditional sculpture, but with little reputation and a sluggish art market, sales were scarce. To boost efficiency, he adapted the "axe-cut" brushstroke (fupi cun) from traditional Chinese painting to wood carving. But axe work was brutal: "After a whole day, my arms ached so much I couldn't even hold chopsticks," he says.
Then he tried a chainsaw on a whim. It sped things up, but controlling angle and pressure proved tricky. Eventually, he posted a short clip of his chainsaw work on social media - and one video topped 7 million views. Encouraged, he honed his technique and replaced professional models with villagers.
Aug. 21: Deng Kun's studio in Hufengshan Village is filled with wooden sculptures modeled after local villagers. (Photo/He Saige)
"At first, they didn't get it," he says. "So I asked my landlady to pose first, and through her I recruited others, 160 yuan (about $22) a day each." The amateur models tired after ten minutes, challenging his ability to quickly capture features and compose. But through trial, he blended the villagers' rustic honesty, the saw's rough gouges and the wood's natural grain into a distinctive style, rugged yet refined, unrestrained yet lyrical, realistic yet freehand.
Viewers rave: "Watching him cut wood is so therapeutic, like slicing soap!" "His portrayal of village life reminds me of my own hometown. It cures my homesickness." "He captures the most moving face of rural revitalization."
Villager Xie Xiaohua, one of his models, says: "When Xiao Deng first started, everyone gathered to gossip: 'that doesn't look right,' 'fix this part.' Now we understand: likeness or not, it's all art. We treat him as one of us. He brings art and vitality to our village."
Today, Deng commands both online traffic and market demand — yet he has uploaded only a dozen or so videos. Despite fans clamoring for more and friends urging him to go all-in on new media, he stands firm. He even lacks enough works to mount a proper exhibition.
"An artist has to endure solitude, especially when young," he says. He shot videos and sold pieces to make a living; now that his basic needs are met, he wants to pursue his artistic ideals.
He named his studio Zhuo Mu, from a classical allusion in Zhuangzi about a master craftsman who could shave off a speck of white clay from a man's nose with a single stroke of his axe, without drawing blood. The story speaks of finding a true connoisseur who appreciates supreme skill.
"In my view, everyone harbors a pastoral dream," Deng says. "The countryside is both a treasure trove of art and the root of our traditional culture. For an artist willing to settle here, the horizon is boundless."
He draws inspiration from a lineage of SCFAI artists, from Luo Zhongli's iconic Father to Pang Maokun's Ripe Apples and Jiao Xingtao's "Yangdeng Art Project", who have chronicled rural change and left lasting marks on Chinese art history.
"Under the rural revitalization strategy, the countryside is transforming every day," Deng says. "Literature and art should keep pace with the times. The countryside needs artists, and artists have a great role to play here. I may never reach the heights of Luo Zhongli's Father, but at least I can do something for this village."
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