Chinese contemporary artist Lü Shengzhong sits in front of his red tissue-paper artwork. Lü was born in the Dayuji village in East China’s Shandong province in January 1952. Photo: Courtesy of CAFA ART INFO

Inspired by soul-summoning dolls that symbolize life in North China’s Shaanxi province, Lü created this “little red figure” in 1991. Photo: Lü Shengzhong/Courtesy of CAFA ART INFO

Lü created this papercut installation titled “Follow My Line” in 1988. Photo: Lü Shengzhong/Courtesy of CAFA ART INFO

Lü’s installation from 2003, titled “Study of Landscape.” Photo: Lü Shengzhong/Courtesy of CAFA ART INFO

Lü exhibited this 12-meter-tall paper installation titled “The Book of Humanity — The Empty Book” at his solo exhibition in the University Art Museum in Albany, New York, in 2005. Photo: Lü Shengzhong/Courtesy of CAFA ART INFO

In the early 2000s, Lü began to experiment with different paper patterns, waving and sculpting paper into varied shapes using traditional Chinese methods. His work titled “Square Earth, Round Heaven” was on display at the Chambers Fine Art gallery in New York in 2007. Photo: Lü Shengzhong/Courtesy of CAFA ART INFO

In 2015, Today Art Museum in Beijing held Lü’s last solo exhibition “Last Century,” which displayed this oil painting titled “Big Cock.” Photo: Lü Shengzhong/Courtesy of CAFA ART INFO

Lü often traveled to villages in Northwest China’s Shaanxi province to collect traditional Chinese folk art visual elements. Photo: Courtesy of CAFA ART INFO

Lü began teaching folk art at the Central Academy of Fine Arts after completing the postgraduate program in the 1980s. The university appointed him to establish the department of experimental art in 2004. Photo: Courtesy of CAFA ART INFO, VCG

The artist and beloved professor passed away at the age of 70 on Oct. 26 in Beijing. Photo: Courtesy of CAFA ART INFO