Zhunan Snake Kiln was founded in 1972 as Heng-Fa Ceramic Factory. Founder Lin Tien-Fu led nine craftsmen and an ox, made his own mold, produced three thousand adobe bricks, and worked nine days to complete the 25-meter long snake kiln (now shortened to 20 meters). At the time, the kiln produced mainly ceramic flower pots. Zhunan Snake Kiln is one of the few remaining snake kilns in Taiwan that is well-preserved and still firing.
In the 1980's, Zhunan Snake Kiln underwent a transformation to move from the traditional pottery industry to folk craft ceramics. Recently they have been dedicated to the creation of wood-fired ceramic art, research of ceramic culture, and courses in traditional ceramic craft and wood-firing. It also promotes Taiwanese ceramic kiln culture through international events.
In 2001, Zhunan Snake Kiln was selected as one of Taiwan's 100 Historic Buildings, then registered as a Historic Building of Miaoli County in 2002. In 2012, the second generation kiln master Lin Jui-Hwa was selected as a Taiwan Craft Family. Zhunan Snake Kiln is operated as an ecological museum of traditional pottery, extending the Taiwanese ceramic and kiln culture heritage as well as promoting the lifestyle aesthetics of wood-fired ceramic art. It aims to pioneer a new path between traditional craft and modern art.
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EXHIBITION INFORMATION: | If ceramics is an art of earth and fire, Lin Jui-hwa’s high-temperature wood-fired ceramic art is the pinnacle of trial by fire. Human thought and the rhythm of hands, transformed by temperature, become works of natural emotions. The trace elements in the clay body are converted into different materials under the exceedingly high heat, exhibiting never-before-seen textures. The “mother glaze” from the firing process is not merely an expression of flame variations of fallen ash and natural glaze colors. When the trace elements are extracted from the clay, they form beautiful textures on which no human eyes had laid. Each piece of Lin Jui-hwa’s work came from his own clay refinement and hand forming. He meticulously studied the most natural elements and found his breakthrough. With the simplest scrap wood and clay, in the most environment-friendly ways, he produced the world’s highest kiln temperature and broke new ground in the field of ceramic art. This is a completely new world of aesthetics. Lin’s goal is not to create mere objects, but life philosophy, which is a reflection on civilization as well as an attitude toward life. Lin stepped out of the classical aesthetics in Chinese ceramics, which focuses on glaze colors and form, and broke away from the tradition of flame patterns and natural ash glaze in Japanese wood-fired ceramics. He also distinguished himself from the expressive pursuit of concepts, form, and materials in modern Western ceramic art. In June 2016, he made the Guinness World Record of highest temperature in a wood-fired kiln at 1563°C, taking a step into the previously unexplored ultra-high temperature firing and redefined the limits of earth and fire. Lin’s “future ceramics” has no glazing, only textures and colors of natural crystallization, minerals, and gems - which is the art of qualitative transformation. With Taiwan’s “future ceramics,” Lin Jui-hwa intends to show the world a new direction in ceramics. |