After completing her MA in Ceramics & Glass at the RCA, her work has gone on to exhibit internationally with representation by Ting-Ying Gallery and Edge Gallery. Previous 2019 Cluster exhibitor Jinya works with concepts of perception, empathy and transparency realised in the medium of glass with an explorative, subtle colour palette. Jinya’s creative practice is research driven with theoretical input guiding the direction and focus of her work. Here Cluster Crafts interviews Jinya on her latest theoretical reading of ‘Material and Mind’ by Christopher Bardt. We gain an insight into the text, how research drives her practice, along with fascinating conceptual insights. Captivated by the visual aesthetic of her work? Here you can gain a deeper insight into the conceptual underpinning of her work and the origin of her creative style.

As Christopher Bardt states in designing work, drawing lies “between the two-dimensional and three-dimensional”. Do you find drawing to be an intuitive process in the design stage, or a required aspect of design? 

Drawing is part of my practice - so I would say it is required to my practice, but on the other hand that every people is different, I know that some people prefer to start with 3D render, or clay/paper mould, etc. I sometimes use those methods too. But I always start from drawing, and then develop my idea into 3D works. It is a pretty classic way of design, but I enjoy how the draw down my feelings on a paper, and keep changing it until I got it to look perfect for me.

Einfühlung, “feeling into” relates to a context of empathy. Taking minimal glass forms, and a subtle colour palette, it could be said there is an empathic quality to your work. What agency does the term ‘empathy’ hold over the creative direction and vision across your collections - was this a natural realisation in the final made outcomes or pre-defined? 

This question can also be reflected in the importance of reading I mentioned earlier - I found more specific theoretical support in reading. I always hope my work allows people to present their emotive beings, to recognize their inner-selves, and to really understand their state of mind. My concept is to explore the subtle relationships between color, form and structure. “Empathy” is an important word for me. In Material and Mind, Christopher Bardt interprets this word ‘allows us to extend their emotive being to others, to feel and understand their interior selves and their perspective of mind’. As what I mentioned from the Timid Magazine interview: So far, I have travelled and lived in different parts of the world, I do feel it is invaluable to understand others and to share the feelings of others despite there are culture and language differences.

My recent attempts are all under my concept formed in London - ‘Non-existent Existence’. It is originated from my own experiences, but it is more and more about empathy. I always invite viewers to reflect their own interpretations on my work. Recently, a collector of my work told me that the orange color of the glass is looming, gentle and sweet, which makes her feel peaceful and joyful after a busy working day. I guess this is the meaning of my work.

And then later, I became more and more interested in this phenomenon and analyzed the theoretical basis for such emotional resonance. Before the reading research, I did have such a concept of emotional expression, but it was not enough for me. With more in-depth research, I was also exploring the subtle emotional connection and emotional transmission.

What challenges have you found taking inspiration from complex terminology such as perception, empathy and ‘space’ in translating these terms to a physical object? 

I think especially for people like me who are not native speakers of English, it is difficult to understand these complex terminologies deeply. However, the significance of which is expressed in common - aside from the language problem, I have my understanding of what it is expressing. And in terms of what I can do is to bring myself closer to these terminologies - the so-called empathy. With a deeper understanding, inspiration followed. I think the most difficult process is to really understand and feel into it. When I feel the mood or emotion that I want to express, in the minds of the screen to come into play.

And the other thing is as what Christopher Bardt mentioned in the book: “The dialogue is necessary because material, in this case glass, cannot be held in mind as idea. Even transparency, the concept most often ascribed to glass, is far too simplistic (as the mind holds it) to predict how a blown piece will catch, refract, transmit, and reflect light in all its rich complexities.” It is true that the glass material itself has the rich complexities, and that is also one of the reasons why I am working with it. Even though you think you get prepared for all the process of the glassblowing, and even though you think you know all the details of how you want the piece looks like, from my own experience, you will still get lots of new surprises or failures from the process. So work with glass for me is together work with material and mind, full of challenges but make me excited!

It could be said there is a synergy between the likes of a James Turrell Sky Space with your collections in their ephemeral, minimal outlook. What are your thoughts on this in searching for inspiration internally versus external artist influence? 

I love how James Turrell express his work: “My work is more about your seeing than it is about my seeing, although it is a product of my seeing. I’m also interested in the sense of presence of space; that is space where you feel a presence, almost an entity - that physical feeling and power that space can give.”

I think that both internal and external inspiration are necessary, and external inspiration is also the excavation of internal possibilities. I am also encouraged by a great number of artists and their works. Among all of them, Olafur Eliasson is one of my favorite. I love his work ‘Space resonates regardless of our presence (Wednesday)’, which is the paradigmatic example of what you see being far more than just the sum of four simple parts. I also visit many different types of exhibitions and artworks, not only sculptures and installations, but also photography, traditional Chinese painting and calligraphy, oil paintings, etc. Also I like reading books about art history. Different aspects and types of works will bring more possibilities and will also resonate a lot for me.

It was an affirmation of Paul Klee from the book: “Art does not reproduce the visible; rather, it makes visible.” I think that it is the power of imagination whereby something ideal is simultaneously something real. What I am doing in my works is to express my own feeling but do not limit how viewers think. We all have our own emotion, and art is one of the ways to express it.

The language behind glass traditionally as a ‘cold’, ‘harsh’ material is interesting to explore and how through your collections, rather, glass is conveyed with a gentle subtlety through colour and form. How do you plan on developing this visual language in your work - are there any insights you can offer us? 

First of all, I do not think that the subtlety that I am trying to express is more advanced than the words like ‘cold’ or ‘harsh’ when people think about glass material. But the reason why I challenge the properties of the material itself is because once it become a art work, think the language behind the material could be change, and even opposite.

This first comes from my own aesthetic and expression, but also from the sharing of the content of the works. For instance, in previous collections, I made my first series of artworks about my homeland – China: I chose to add the color gradient of the blown glass to express and produce a looming and overwhelming smog-like effect. I have explored the differing inherent qualities of glass and, through this approach, I have endeavored to allow space for the viewer to reflect on their own lives and the atmospheres they live in. Since then, I have spent two years in London. I used smoky glass to deliberately obscure the interior, thereby allowing for a scope and breadth of interpretation. I do, however, aim to maintain a recognizable aesthetic that has been described as ‘non-existent existence’. And also when I did the Artist-in- Residence program at the Southern Illinois University Carbondale, I combined my personal observations and feelings with meteorological analysis, and that is how I developed my personal visual language in my work.