Jiaxi Chen

I was born in Jingdezhen, China, a city known as the porcelain capital, surrounded by clay, kilns, and many local ceramic artists. Before working with ceramics, I spent two years as a software engineer. Over time, I felt a strong pull back to clay, and eventually chose to become a ceramic artist.

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 I have long been attentive to the subtle experiences of being human. My background in physics and my Buddhist practice have shaped how I think about existence, perception, causality, and change. Through my work, I bring these two ways of thinking into contact. Creating is not only a way of expressing who I am; it is also an ongoing process through which I come to understand myself.

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My practice is rooted primarily in wheel-throwing and hand-building, but I do not want anyparticular technique to determine what a work can become. Instead, I let each idea guidethe process and determine its own form. Clay holds infinite possibilities, much like the endless range of my emotions. It allows me to experiment freely whenever my emotionsoverflow. No matter how I touch, compress, break, or reshape it, clay always holds me.