10 Questions with Pei Wu

Pei Wu got her MFA in The Jewellery and Gemstone from Idar-Oberstein campus of Trier University. Originally from Taipei, Taiwan, she studied architecture and art before going to the UK to study jewelry at Sir John Cass School of Art, Architecture, and Design. Having a background in architecture study, her way of working is relatively intuitive and intimate. Relative to the general perception of architecture design, her works are more organic and curved, also intentionally focused on feeling and emotional expression.

www.peiwujewellery.com | @peiwu_eva

 ARTIST STATEMENT

The starting point is usually my own personal story; through collecting more relevant stories and going as deep as possible to reach the source, I try to bring my story to a social level, to tell it in a way that could resonate with the public. The emotion I expressed shaped the material, mainly stones, into their specific form. The quietness in my work is from a frozen moment of action, a movement. People often find my work soft and gentle in the beginning, but then the tension and weight come after.

The tension and the contradiction sense are especially crucial in my graduation project “Parent, Past Life, Teddy Bear”. The soft-touch of the material with the oppressive form; the stone is hard but as well warm; the adorable appearance hides a touch of insecurity... The combination of all senses reflects the state of mind under my story behind.

“Parent, Past Life, Teddy Bear” | ABOUT

What formed us? What affected our personality?

These questions are developed from the personal story between my parents and me. I realized how deeply I was formed and affected by my mum especially. Later on, by collecting more stories from others, the research extended to the level of society. I found out the parent-child relationship has been discussed in different cultures for a long history. Different fields have their observation and explanation.

For instance, starting from psychoanalysis at the end of the 19 century, psychologists generally agreed that our early childhood is the most crucial period of time in which our personality has been built. Therefore the adults who took care of us in our early childhood, most of the time our parents, would be the most effective influence. However, for thousands of years in the part of the eastern culture, recently can be seen in western psychological medicine, the influence of individuals can be chased back to the farther past, even before this life. The reincarnation believes the fate between the children and their parents is very deep, the bond was created through many lives. The parent-child relationship can be a lifelong homework for both sides. The struggle, the pressure make us breathless, the fight between our inner strength and the outer force can be very intense. However, they are wrapped with love and care. The quietness in the piece is from a frozen moment of action, a movement. People often find them soft and gentle in the beginning, but then the tension and weight come after.

INTERVIEW

Could you tell us a little more about your background and how did you begin making art?

At an early age, art had been the subject I'm interested in the most. However, my major was in architecture, and I think it's a bit of a compromise since "art can't make a living." But I'm glad that I did minor in fine art; that was when I got to sculpture, paint, and goldsmith. From then on, this incredible kind of language amazed me by how much feeling it can contain, and the viewers can convert. I believe that was the formal starting point when I finally admitted how much I'm into art. Later on, I see architecture and jewelry are both a form of art, one has context with the surrounding, and the other has the body to have a dialogue with. 

What are you trying to communicate with your art?

In my culture, people tend to suppress their emotions, so do I. I rarely talked about my feelings and emotions, especially the more negative ones, no matter the reason, not to bother people, not to make others worry, or the traditional viewpoint that personal issues should be more private. But in art, I can be free and expressive; the suppressed personal feelings finally find an outlet through my artwork, same for the other way around; you can feel the warm hug, the whisper, the yell at the top of the lungs from art. It's also the reason why I devote myself to making. Even though it probably wouldn't bring a noticeable change from one day to another, any form of communication is only healthy and positive. Especially art; without the rhetorical polishing, it's almost nude. Therefore, in my eyes, artists are brave and extremely positive.   

You have been quoted as, "I am inspired by my own life story; collecting more relevant stories and going as deep as possible to reach the source." Can you tell our readers what experience of your life is reflected in your works of art?

For example, the collection published on Al-tiba9 issue07, "Parent, Past Life, Teddy Bear," is about the relationship between my parent and me; it can be seen as the collective relationship between two generations. It started when I realized it is difficult or barely possible to change myself into the way I want. I was formed in my childhood and how deeply my parents influenced me. I'm questioning my true self and trying to be a good girl, a perfect daughter. Those complicated and contradictive feeling that is hard to describe precisely or even can't find words for. My first solo exhibition invitation was from China. It explains that my story is mine and many peoples', who are the same as my generation or from similar cultural backgrounds; therefore, they can relate to it and see a part of themselves in my pieces.

How do you find connections between Nature, Fashion, and jewelry Design?

Fashion and jewelry, we are little grass, nourished by nature.

Among everything, every single thing, I have immense respect and admiration for nature. Its mysterious, rigorous system forms the most diverse and marvelous species, and its beauty inspires us with form, color, smell, texture, temperature, and so on. Between fashion and art jewelry (the area in jewelry that I know), the former is the cool kid, having the talent of impressing people, and the latter is the stubborn kid, focusing their own thing and doesn't care much about the rest. Of course, those are my personal opinions, and I'm still on the way to explore more.

What is your creative process like?

I would start playing with whatever material I was drawn into at that moment--stone, clay, or tree branch, and then sometimes, not all the time, it would start whispering as it grows. That's when I found a line to follow and started going deeper and more focused with a theme. Apart from making, my creative process contains a large amount of research. It allows me to see the theme more broadly; therefore, you can tell from my collection that the pieces sometimes have a very different appearance, even the techniques or materials used. Then the making process is a constant back and forth dialogue between the material and me. So if I have some different thoughts about one topic, there will be many pieces going simultaneously; and when a group of work is done, they would have a collective interaction around this theme. I guess that's why often my series would take quite a long time.

Who is your typical client or collector that buys your jewelry?

So far, most are makers and teachers from the art jewelry field who knew me personally or have followed me on Instagram and knew my work for a while. Therefore I've been trying to reach out to broader audiences and look forward to where it will lead me.

What for you is the most enjoyable part of your art?

I would say it's when I finally find a great solution to make my piece wearable and turn the object into jewelry—it's magical and poetic. This moment reminds me of architecture design; there would be a grounded feeling that everything clicks. The mechanism, the combination of materials, the form, everything makes their existence a reason to be joined in this specific way--this makes all the struggle worthy.

How did 2020 influence the way you express art?

2020 is like losing a footing. Suddenly I could not work in the workshop from my school as a guest. Along with the lockdown and all the cancelations, it has not been very encouraging for me; I guess it's similar for most of us. As an artist who takes inspiration from the surroundings and people, I often felt emotionally overloaded last year, and it's too much to digest. The concept of home, freedom, distance, to me, all seem very different from before, and it's overwhelming. I'll need to take my time to clear the thought and figure it out. 

What are you working on now, and what are your plans for the future?

Currently, I'm on the series "Parent, Past Life, Teddy Bear" for the planned solo exhibition. I like to explore multiple materials and techniques to respond to the same theme; therefore, each sub-line still has some story to tell. At the same time, some new ideas are sprouting here and there. I'm trying not to plan so much and follow the next step when it opens up to me. But the goal is to keep on making.

Finally, Share something you would like the world to know about you?

Since art jewelry (or studio jewelry, contemporary jewelry) is not yet a very commonly known form of art, I would like to encourage the art enthusiast, all the readers of Al-tiba9, to explore this interactive and more intimate way of art. It challenges the traditional idea of value, playing with the concept of body and identity. It is a type of art not only for collecting but also for wearing.