Shiyuan Xu

Bio

Shiyuan Xu was born in Hangzhou, P.R China, currently lives and works in Chicago, IL. Shiyuan received her BA in Ceramics from China Academy of Art in 2012, and an MFA from Arizona State University in 2016. She has been awarded several prestigious Artist-in-Residency programs across the country, such as the Archie Bray Foundation, the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, Lawrence Arts Center and Lillstreet Art Center. Shiyuan is the recipient of 2017 Ceramics Monthly Emerging Artist and 2021 NCECA Emerging Artist. She has exhibited nationally and internationally, which includes US, UK, Slovenia, China and South Korea, and her work has been added to the permanent collections at San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts, Archie Bray Foundation, Korea Ceramic Foundation and the National Museum of Slovenia.

Artist Statement

My work is inspired by the research of scientific and microscopic phenomena ranging from single-celled organisms in the ocean to diverse plant seeds on land, and to cells, the building blocks of all life form. My fascination with shapes, patterns, structures and textures of these microorganisms stimulates my creation. I reinterpret their visual elements into sculptural forms revealing the intricacy and fragility of the hidden world.

In my recent work, I have been concentrating on the structures of the micro life forms, the rhythm and energy flow within its growth. In D’Arcy Thompson’s ‘On Growth and Form’, the form of an object is a ‘diagram of forces’. I see the structure of these microorganisms as traces of their growth and response to the internal and external force. It is about movement, time and space. It records the way they move and grow. The way they react to the surrounding environment by interacting, altering, evolving and adapting to generate infinite new forms.

I hand-build structures with porcelain paperclay, and I use unconventional processes to apply glazes on the sculptural pieces. The exploration of materials and process allows me to push the boundaries of fragility and strength, simplicity and complex, order and chaos. Meticulously, the thin skeletal lines are woven into a harmonious volume.

I see the rich history of porcelain as a part of my identity and use the classic Chinese ceramic color palette as one of the references of my work. Situated in a different cultural background offers me a new perspective to sense my own cultural heritage. The regular and irregular structures and layers blend in with the memory of my sensations and personal experience. They are in many ways like living organisms, absorbing and evolving, the reflections of my own life path, an abstraction of the complexity and delicacy of life itself and my own roots.

Exhibitions