For What It’s Worth: Ceramic Experimentations by Julie & Jesse

EVENT DESCRIPTION

Novalis Art Design is pleased to present “For What It’s Worth: Ceramic Experimentations by Julie & Jesse”. Rust, used cardboard wrapper, ceramic shards, roadside saplings — these are all things that we come in contact with on a regular basis, yet are so ordinary that we don’t usually register having seen them by the end of the day, and may even want to remove them to tidy up a place. But for Julie & Jesse, what are considered useless and unwanted to most are treasures to them. Each find becomes an opportunity to unpack stories across time and space, hidden within the material. The duo’s eye for curiosity and investigative approach have not only driven their entire creative practice — it is how they make sense of the world. The new works presented in this exhibition are both documentation and fruition of their ceramic experimentations in the past decade. What they create is a testimony to their superb technical skills, but it is always poetic and personal.

Irony celebrates iron oxide — more commonly known as rust — by allowing it to grow uninhibited on porcelain, creating a mesmerising abstract landscape in the process. Julie & Jesse actively cultivate iron oxide out of rusty metal pieces collected from a former military equipment factory in Jingdezhen and metal recyclers in Chai Wan, Hong Kong.

The Unpacked series began in 2020 as part of Julie & Jesse’s reflection on their consumption habits during the pandemic years, exploring the materials that could be extracted from their daily lives for creative purposes. One of the most ubiquitous items found in their studio and home was shredded cardboard fillers. Through extensive experimentation, they successfully created ceramic ‘fossils’ of these fillers, resembling the process of tree petrifications.

With Anomalous Artefacts, Julie & Jesse created new hybrid creatures with broken ceramic pieces collected from Jingdezhen and Hong Kong, inspired by the way archaeologists reconstruct historical artefacts using fragments.

Taking Root originated as a contemplation on the relationship between nature and the city. Julie & Jesse have long been intrigued by the resilience of nature, as it always finds a home in the most surprising places, such as sewage pipes, walls and pavements. To explore a new type of symbiotic relationship between humans and nature, they have designed ceramic housing units for plants actively removed by city cleaners or displaced by monsoon weather.

ABOUT THE ARTIST / ORGANISER

Julie & Jesse is a creative studio focusing on experimental ceramic investigations that stretches across the fields of design, craft and art. It was founded in Hong Kong and Jingdezhen in 2012 by Swiss designer Julie Progin and American artist Jesse Mc Lin. The duo manifests research into materials and bridges conceptual and emotional narratives with meticulous making technique. Their projects draw inspiration from a wide range of cultural, historic and economic context, expanding existing perceptions and expectations of porcelain. From capturing the movement of clay during firing to archiving the break and decay of distressed production moulds, their creative practice centres on the themes of time, context and transformation. Julie & Jesse’s works have been exhibited at M+, Design Society, the Triennale Di Milano and Chicago Design Museum. They also closely collaborate with international design companies such as COS to create unique installations.