As the third-generation pottery creator in Yingge, the owner of FU CI Pottery Workshop grew up in a ceramic factory and has special sentiment for pottery. He passes down the original pottery making techniques, fuses innovative elements, and breaks free from traditional shape of teapot, making a teapot more than a teapot.
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EXHIBITION INFORMATION: | Lin Kai-wen is a third-generation ceramic artisan in Yingge. Growing up in a ceramic factory, he has a special connection with ceramics and often uses ceramics as the medium for his art. Inheriting teapot-making techniques from his professional artisan father Lin Yong-yu, he has accumulated 10 years of experience in the trade. Breaking the mold and introducing new elements, he turns traditional structures into avant-garde designs with modern concepts. With objects, he explores human thoughts, and through visual impact, he seeks breakthrough and innovation in tradition. In 2017, he founded the creative studio “Fu Qi Studio” to infuse the manufacturing of teapots with the concept of “fu qi” (blessing) and spread it far and wide. With new concepts and genuine spirit, he and his sister Lin Wei-shan created the tea ceremony design “Shadow, Tea, and Person,” where participants taste tea in a standing position at a long counter, using black tea ware made of composite metal materials. The black materials mute light, shadows, and colors, enticing participants to look for colors and shadows in the mist of blackness. The widely varying heights and widths of the tea ware broke away from standardized form factors and revolutionized the atmosphere with impactful visual presentation. They won honorable mention in the 2017 International Tea Ceremony Design Contest. Waking up, opening the door, and holding hands- Fu Qi Studio is inspired by these routine actions. With the grasp, the hand feels the temperature of the environment and the texture of the object. The unification of mind and hands is a basic philosophy for creating ceramics, as well as an aspiration, at Fu Qi Studio. The purpose of making the “handle to fit hand perfectly like handshake or handholding” is to convey trust, balance, and equality, because we have to be committed to a handshake and show sincerity. The handshake is a common etiquette for people to exchange respect when meeting for the first time, and it is rifer with emotion than verbal conversation. Fu Qi Studio redesigns the form based on the nature of ceramics to create tea ware that is not uniform, hoping to inspire people to “grasp” the variations across the stages of life and make appropriate changes - to seize chances and do what must be done. This is the spirit of craft at Fu Qi Studio. We must cherish our blessings to make blissful connections. |