Wearable pieces of history

The recent inscription of Jingdezhen's handicraft industry sites as a group on the UNESCO World Heritage List pays tribute to the historical glory of the hilly, riverfront city in landlocked Jiangxi province as a flourishing center of porcelain production and trade between the 10th and 19th centuries.

The inscription also celebrates a long-standing, comprehensive system of manufacturing and craftsmanship that still thrives in Jingdezhen, renowned as China's "porcelain capital", whose exquisite products captivate people today.

Among those fueling the city's creative energy are local ceramists, as well as the community of jingpiao ("Jingdezhen drifters"), a term affectionately used to describe artists who come to the city for long-term or brief stays.

Zhao Yici is one of these gifted and ambitious visitors.

A seasoned jewelry designer, she was first drawn to Jingdezhen by its heritage and, at the same time, its inspiring creative atmosphere.

The city opened up a different world for her — a material with which she had limited experience and a handicraft tradition in which she saw possibilities for innovation by integrating her existing practices.

This led to the birth of Trace by Yici in 2024, through which she brings the sensibilities of a jewelry designer with more than 10 years of experience to ceramics.

Her stay in Jingdezhen also marked the beginning of a creative renewal for her as she pursued "a state of free expression" within the realm of Eastern aesthetics, after years of being accustomed to a business-oriented way of thinking.

She describes her foray into ceramics as an impulsive act. "For me, ceramics is a natural material, and full of uncertainty."

While in Jingdezhen, she made porcelain paintings and installations using cobalt blue pigment. During the process, she was impressed by the lightness of ceramics, as well as by the way a single material can possess different degrees of luster and shifting colors — qualities she finds quite unique.

She has continued her exploration of ceramics back in her hometown, Beijing, working from her studio on the third floor of the Hongqiao Market. The emporium, known as a destination for pearls and other jewelry, is bustling yearround with traders and customers from across the country and abroad.

Zhao has transformed a space at the end of rows of booths into a world of her own, where she immerses herself in the peaceful pleasure of playing with ceramics.

There, she displays the porcelain paintings made in Jingdezhen, as well as accessories from Trace by Yici.

In her earring series, Embrace, Serenity and Celestial, one can sense a distinct chemistry between porcelain clay and fire, modern minimalism and traditional craftsmanship. She deliberately molds the earrings into petal shapes. The irregular ripples across their surfaces resemble a silk ribbon held by a dancer, leaving elegant traces in every swirl and leap.

The colors include milky white, blue, red, rosy pink, and pale blue-green — hues one might find on a porcelain vessel dating to the Song Dynasty (960-1279), a peak of China's monochromatic ceramics.

The designs evoke a graceful, laid-back mood in keeping with people's yearning for a simple, slower-paced lifestyle. They also resonate with the concept of liubai ("leaving blankness") in Chinese aesthetics, in which sparse compositions in classical paintings leave room for imagination, as well as for philosophical contemplation of the relationship between fullness and emptiness.

"When working with glaze colors, I hope to usher tradition into contemporary living. For example, the glaze on one pair of these petal earrings is a variation on the celebrated Longquan celadon ware," she says.

"Normally, if you want to appreciate authentic Longquan celadon, you would visit the Palace Museum in Beijing, which houses fine examples. I see wearing these earrings as being like possessing a small piece of historical memory in everyday life."

Coco Wang, a longtime friend, says that when she wears Zhao's designs, she feels the power of transformation from raw earth into refined porcelain, an artistry born from nature.

Zhao has turned the back room of her studio into a laboratory, with shelves of books and a ceramic kiln where she makes test pieces.

She sends the works, along with manufacturing specifications, to her collaborators in Jingdezhen for production.

She has also learned the technique of lacquer-work.

"Lately, I've been exploring the fusion of lacquer and ceramics, both of which are quintessentially Chinese," she says.

"I decline to predetermine the outcome. I pick up a lump of clay and let instincts guide the form, allowing it to evolve into whatever shape it ultimately wants to be."

Contact the writer at linqi@chinadaily.com.cn