Xin Yaoyao: paper-thin porcelain dreams

Xin Yaoyao is a young ceramic artist who moved to China’s “Porcelain Capital” Jingdezhen town（景德镇）to study handicraft since 2012. The pursuit of “beauty” is the ultimate inspiration for Xin Yaoyao’s work. The unique design and craftsmanship of Xin’s work have attracted attention at exhibitions including 100% Design London, Salone del Mobile di Milano and Design Shanghai over the years.

▲ Xin Yaoyao, working in her studio

▲ "Regret" series

Based on the idea of fragility, Xin spent countless hours to make the ceramic as thin as 0.3mm in the "Regret" series. She explains: "Maybe it will be more practical if it is plastic, but I still prefer to use porcelain. The word "regret" represents the soul of porcelain, which is so fragile and can be ruined easily."

In winter 2016, Xin Yaoyao became the first Chinese artist collaborating with Hermes for its window at Hermès Shanghai Maison. Meanwhile, she also held a solo exhibition “Light of Water, Lustre of Porcelain” (水光·瓷色）at the Maison, presenting large-scale installation art made out of porcelain. The work consists of 70,000 porcelain pieces that are thinner than 1mm, which are extremely delicate and difficult to handle.

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“Whirlpool”（漩）for Hermès window, subverting the usual visual perspective, leads the viewer to experience the fluctuation of the whirlpool from underwater. The floor-standing installation adapts the structure of triple prism, reflecting the power of nature through the mirrors. Six layers of porcelain hanging from the ceiling, a unique way of viewing, display the elegant glow within the polygon structure.

Xin has been experimenting with techniques of making paper-thin porcelain since 2014, “it’s like rolling dough with a rolling pin”, she said. With a high risk of failure, those porcelain pieces have been colour-glazed, then merged into a poetic picture out of clay, water, light and shadow.

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“Reflection”（倒影）for Hermès window is a grand installation which requires viewers to move back across the street for the whole picture. During the daytime, it reflects the dancing shadows of the trees, while at night, it is like a classic Chinese painting of mountains and lakes with reflection. It brings a fresh aesthetics of lightness and grace to ceramic art.

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Before the devotion to porcelain, Xin Yaoyao has experimented with Xuan paper (Chinese rice paper) to make the “Drape Series”（无骨宣纸灯）. The organic texture on the Folded Lamp, works as decoration while providing support to the structure.

▲ At Shenzhen Design Week 2017, Xin Yaoyao brought her stunning porcelain pieces to the “Elevate Memories” exhibition.

Elevate Memories（另一种传承）is a thought leadership project launched by MY studio in 2016. Its purpose is to showcase designers who bring progress to traditional craftsmanship, by incorporating modern aesthetics and industrial production knowledge. Their remarkable works demonstrate the vision of maintaining the heritage of craftsmanship, whilst creating new business values and opportunities which will allow the industry to explore and harness the benefits of sustainability through design in the context of globalisation.