For over eight thousand years, China has been producing some of the most refined ceramics known to man. One of the fundamental pillars of Chinese craft, pottery has mirrored the changes and development of the entire nation since its emergence in Neolithic times.
Today, the spirit of these skilled artisans is still as vibrant as ever, as ceramic techniques have been passed from generation to generation.
Hai Chen’s work focuses on the traditional blue and white porcelain that China has come to be known for, and is an emerging force in the world of ceramics. Her unique interpretation and illustrations have injected modern energy into this century-old material.
“Ceramics is my language tool. It represents my aesthetic and life philosophy.”
Hai Chen graduated from Tsinghua University’s Academy of Art & Design in the early 1990s before travelling to France to study wood-firing techniques with French contemporary ceramics master Claude Champy in Paris. By gaining a wider exposure and understanding of her industry and craft, she realised that although China has excellent ceramic-making techniques, the most exquisite pieces were often made elsewhere. With a desire to change this, she returned to China in the late 1990s, where she established her own label, Blue Shanghai White, in 2003.
“I interpret change by sticking to a fundamental principle. Forms can develop, but the essence should always remain the same.”
To truly celebrate this treasured material, Hai Chen uses traditional techniques to elevate useful and functional objects into one-off pieces that sit in the contemporary art scene. She also changed traditional illustrations conventionally painted on Chinese porcelain into abstract strokes; from small birds on branches to chairs with a ceramic back. Through her work, Chen leads the avant-garde of Chinese ceramics into the future and beyond.
