Whimsical young Chinese artist transforms eyesores into enchanting scenes

Tang Zixi, a 26-year-old Chinese artist, poses for a photo with a picture of a little dolphin swimming in the sea. She created the picture based on cracks on the ground to make the spot more pleasing to the eye. (Photo courtesy of Tang Zixi)

While many people may go around them when they see broken floor bricks in the street, Tang Zixi, a 26-year-old Chinese artist, has chosen to spend two to three hours turning such mishaps into decorative pictures with the paintbrushes and paints she often carries with her.

Thanks to her ingenuity, citizens in east China's Shanghai may be pleasantly surprised when they see lovely cartoons in unexpected places: a curious bear and mouse peek out of a crack in broken pavement bricks, as if they lived in a cave below; a little green person stands on a road, with the grass in a gap between the nearby floor bricks being the person's hair; a hamster waters a cluster of purple flowers that have sprouted from the gap between two floor bricks.

Tang's works have gone viral and attracted nearly 3 million followers to her account on a short video sharing platform. Many internet users are full of praise for the whimsical and heartwarming creations.

A picture created by Tang Zixi, a 26-year-old Chinese artist, shows a curious bear and mouse peeking out of a crack in broken pavement bricks. (Photo courtesy of Tang Zixi)

"It's like you are the real-life Ma Liang (a fictional boy from ‘The Magical Brush’ whose magic paintbrush brought his creations to life).” "Can you come paint one of these cute pictures on the road in front of my home?" "If you accidentally see these little works of art on the road, you would definitely be in a good mood all day long," netizens said.

"Sometimes we encounter mishaps in our lives, like a broken window in the house and a floor brick on the road with a corner missing. By turning them into enchanting scenes, I bring joy to others while making myself happy," she said.

Born in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Tang has developed a keen interest in painting since she was little. She majored in Art Design at Communication University of China Nanjing in Nanjing, capital of east China's Jiangsu Province, and has created wall paintings on the side during her four years of college, adorning many spaces in Jiangsu with her artworks.

A broken floor brick is turned into a picture of a hamster hunting for treasure by Tang Zixi, a 26-year-old Chinese artist. (Photo courtesy of Tang Zixi)

After graduating from the university, Tang moved to Shanghai to continue her career in wall painting, and opened a studio of her own.

According to her, the first of her roadside artworks that has brought her widespread attention on the internet was created by accident.

She once noticed broken pavement bricks on her walk home, and decided on a whim to transform the spot to make it pleasing to the eye. After spending hours filling the cracks on the bricks with imagination, she finally replaced the eyesore with a lovely picture: cracks in the pavement suddenly burst into life as a tiny bear and mouse emerge, with their noses twitching inquisitively.

Feeling satisfied with the work, Tang made a short video of the picture and posted it online. To her surprise, the video soon accumulated nearly 700,000 likes on a short video sharing platform. Encouraged and motivated by the popularity of the video, Tang has transformed more corners of the city since then, bringing vibrance and magic to mundane spaces.

Photo shows a creation of Tang Zixi, a 26-year-old Chinese artist. The ugly floor tile around the floor drain in her bathroom has been turned into a picture of cartoon characters swimming in a sparkling pool. (Photo courtesy of Tang Zixi)

In addition to unattractive spots in public places, unsightly corners in her home, such as cracked wall skin, damp corners of a wall, and broken windows have also provided inspiration for her whimsical creations.

With her bold strokes, the ugly floor tile around the floor drain in her bathroom was turned into "a sparkling pool for adorable cartoon characters to swim in,” while a broken spot in a window became a "Rasengan thrown by Naruto Uzumaki,” the main character from the Japanese manga series “Naruto.”

A picture created by Tang Zixi, a 26-year-old Chinese artist, shows Naruto Uzumaki, the main character from the Japanese manga series “Naruto,” throwing Rasengan at a window. The creation ingeniously turned a broken spot in the window into art. (Photo courtesy of Tang Zixi)

For the talented young artist, conjuring sweet little moments from life's mishaps has not only warmed the hearts of strangers, but brought positivity to her own days, too.

"The ancients said that every misfortune may be a blessing in disguise. The more I create such little works based on mishaps, the more I feel that sometimes flaws make art. I hope my videos can remind people that troubles may become delight when you deal with it with a new way of thinking," she said.

Photo shows a picture of a hamster holding a watering can painted by Tang Zixi, a 26-year-old Chinese artist, which adds vibrance to a cluster of purple flowers growing in a gap between floor bricks. (Photo courtesy of Tang Zixi)

Photo shows a picture of koi fish swimming in a pond created by Tang Zixi, a 26-year-old Chinese artist, at a broken part of a cobblestone ground. (Photo courtesy of Tang Zixi)