About the Artist Wanying Liang: https://shop.wanyingliang.com/pages/about-the-artist
Winter here in Upstate New York often feels like it will last forever. But amidst the freezing temperatures and heavy drifts, we are occasionally gifted with stunningly clear days. The crisp, bright blue sky contrasting against the pristine white snow and the stark, dark silhouettes of the wintry trees is deeply refreshing.
Whenever I look up from my pottery wheel and gaze out the studio windows, I forget about the biting cold and simply soak in the view. That profound, quiet landscape is exactly where the aesthetic and color palette for my new Yukon Series was born.
The Collection: Forms for Winter Rituals
This recent studio cycle yielded a very intentional batch of about 50 pieces. Rather than throwing identical cylinders, I allowed the clay to take on various forms designed to suit different warming winter rituals.
The Yukon collection includes:
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Handleless Bowls: Intimate, rounded vessels designed to be cradled in both hands to absorb the warmth of the tea inside.
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Wide-Mouthed Coffee Mugs: Thrown in both large and small variations, these feature a wide surface area perfect for a heavy morning pour.
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Tall Vessels: A few slender, elongated mugs designed for extended heat retention during long hours in the studio.
The Flow State of Handmade Pottery
In documenting the creation of the Yukon Series, I wanted to capture the true, unedited atmosphere of my studio practice.
The process of making handmade ceramics is inherently slow and wonderfully peaceful. Working with porcelain and stoneware demands a "flow state"—a quiet, focused energy where the hands intuitively guide the spinning earth. To preserve this chill, meditative atmosphere in my latest video journal, I chose to omit spoken narration entirely. Instead, the video relies solely on ambient studio sounds and subtle text guidance to walk you through the throwing, trimming, and handle-pulling process.
It is my hope that watching this quiet visual journey brings a moment of peace to your day, much like the winter landscape outside my window brings to mine.
Experience the quiet flow state of the studio in my latest video journal: [Link to YouTube Video]
Shop the Collection: The handmade pieces from this winter firing are now available. [Explore the Pottery here.]