Ceramic artist Xiao Shiming (based in China) draws from a background in photography and design, where she initially worked by constructing visual structures in advance to guide outcomes. After turning to ceramics, this approach gradually unraveled, leading her to recognize that many key decisions cannot be predetermined, but must be continuously adjusted through the act of making.

The artworks presented in this exhibition are part of Shiming’s recent series of material experiments. Unlike she previous work in photography or design—where ideas were often preceded by sketches and conceptual planning—these pieces were not created from a predetermined image or outcome. Instead, they developed gradually through the making process.

Upon entering the studio, she selects materials according to my state of mind that day, allowing form and surface to evolve through the interaction between hand and clay. Shiming is attentive to the formation of texture and tactility—the friction between clay particles, the shedding of fragments, the traces left by brushes, and the layers that emerge between movement and stillness.

The brand name すいすい(suisui) describes the light, fluid sound and sensation of moving smoothly through water or air. This sense of flow runs through her ceramic practice. Rather than holding the clay tightly in control, she opens her hands and allow the material to respond within the

process. The surfaces retain these traces of interaction—sometimes calm, sometimes undulating—like a river shifting between dry and rainy seasons, revealing and covering its riverbed as it moves forward.

These works are not centered around a fixed image, but instead record a period of exchange between hand, material, and a particular state of being.

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