Page 38 - Winter Issue

New Ritual Vessels

This series of work aims to explore how to position representative ceremonial vessels from traditional Chinese culture in
a contemporary context. Specifically, I will select ceremonial vessels that embody a unique Eastern spirituality and use
their forms as a base to combine with artistic elements from other civilizations or cultures. Additionally, I will integrate
imagery of the female body into the designs. For these two particular pieces, they incorporated the appearance of a type
of ancient Roman pottery: terra sigillata. For materiality, I use low-fired earthenware ceramics and adhere to hand-
building ceramic techniques. Innovating in surface finishing by abandoning traditional glazes or slips. Instead, I decorate
the surfaces with Urushiol lacquer (a natural tree sap from East Asia) and polishing wax.
New Ritual Vessels: Tripod Hill Censor
This work is a ceramic sculptural object that pays homage to a traditional Chinese vessel form — the hill censer, which can be used for
burning incense as a ceremonial vessel.
The hill censer ( 博⼭爐, "universal mountain censer") is a type of Chinese censer traditionally made of bronze. When incense is burned,
smoke drifts out from the mountain-shaped lid, symbolizing the Chinese cultural aspiration for sacred mountains inhabited by
immortals.
As a ceramic artist, I am fascinated by the rich history of ceramics across different cultures around the world, which provides me with
endless inspiration. I am particularly struck by the red-gloss wares of ancient Rome (sometimes referred to as Terra sigillata) and
ancient Greek pottery. These demonstrate that ceramics can achieve a glossy sheen even without glaze, which contrasts with the
extensive use of glazes in the Chinese ceramic tradition. On the other hand, the tripod form has been widely used in vessels throughout
Chinese and other civilizations. I associate this form with the curves of the female breast.

Black Shoulder Tripod Jar Tripod Hill Censor
Lacquer and wax on earthenware Lacquer and wax on earthenware
42x23x22cm, 2024 42x23x22cm, 2024

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