Yen Chi Gia Liang
Life is a long journey. Along the way, pieces of memory and images build up the views in our mind. All the fragments combine together and make us who we are. As an international student who came from Asian background to the other side of the world, Yen has sought the balance of two societies. On one hand to remember the traditions of the East, on the other absorbing the innovative vibe of the West. For her collection of jewellery, Yen likes to use precious metal as the foundation, using goldsmith techniques that she’s learnt in London, and adding in different elements. She would like to bring in traditional “Makie” lacquer art into her collection as a way to represent her oriental background, but giving the traditional method a new expression. In her collection, Yen uses black-lacquered plates as a vessel for her memories patterns, which are developed from images that she recorded in two cities, Taipei and London. Those unique patterns will be found on her lacquer jewellery pieces to present the fusion of two places, showing the lines and the curves of her memories. The structure of all of her pieces is inspired by nature. Leaf-shapes and organic forms play an important role. There is a saying that, the nature around us quietly records our every move, and brings those precious moments back to us when we pay a little of our attention on them.
