Meet the artists remoulding the rules of working with clay
Ceramic artists Julie Progin and Jesse Mc Lin talk about their work across 2 studios in Hong Kong and Jingdezhen
“To survive creatively in Hong Kong, which can be difficult, the more flexible you are, the better,” says Mc Lin. We’re standing in what he calls their “hang test space”, a white-walled enclave within the studio where pieces are pulled out of the visual chaos and held to the light. “You need to take the work out of a distracting space and ask: could it change? Could it develop? Could it be better?”
Behind a set of wide sliding doors, the studio opens into the heart of their practice: a space where much of the experimenting and creation happens. Two kilns anchor one corner. A large table is strewn with moulds and tools. Off to the side, fragments of ceramics, minerals and rocks they’ve collected over the years form a kind of private reference library.
It became about creating a kind of memory
They are known for experimenting with porcelain’s intrinsic qualities in ways that aren’t typically visible in the mainstream, challenging conventional depictions. In “Fragments”, Progin and Mc Lin use broken and eroded moulds to craft large, distorted vases that explore how uniqueness can be achieved through mass production. In their “Clay Bodies” series, they use high temperatures, encouraging the clay to collapse in the kiln, emphasising its tendency towards instability and transformation.