Photo shows the thumbing up for Jingdezhen. (Photo by Hu Zhiping)
Flowers in full bloom attract butterflies without invitation.
After more than a thousand years, Jingdezhen still exudes its porcelain-based attraction that fascinates people around the world.
Why Is It Jingdezhen?
"Jingdezhen is Mecca in my eyes," Ryan LaBar from the U.S. assumes. "If a person wants to be engaged in ceramics, but doesn't get to Jingdezhen, it would be tantamount to the saying whoever does not reach the Great Wall is not a true man."
LaBar shows his young visitors how to make a porcelain ware at his studio. (courtesy of the interviewee)
In those days, LaBar could have become a doctor, but he didn't expect that he was absorbed by ceramic art at a class of an elective course at school later. Since then, he has been working with clay and fire for more than 20 years.
In 2011, LaBar came to China for the first time as a resident artist in Shenzhen. Not long after he arrived there, he, together with some of his companions, decided to do something extraordinary: They drove 8 hours from Shenzhen to Jingdezhen. "We all wanted to tour around Jingdezhen," he recalled. In the view of LaBar, for ceramic art lovers, coming to Jingdezhen is just like that a wanderer finally returns home.
All encounters are predestined by fate. This is also true for LaBar. He packed his bags and gladly went to Jingdezhen on invitation in 2015. As a resident foreign artist at Taoxichuan, he has spent five years here.
In Taoxichuan, LaBar has his own paradise. He runs his own studio in a two-story building, which he named Lab Artz after a variant of his family name, LaBar.
Here, he can independently complete the whole process of porcelain making from clay modeling to firing, seeing the unique romantic temperament of each piece of work as his blueprint is turned into reality bit by bit.
LaBar also met his artistgirlfriend here. When he concentrates on modeling clay and glazing clay bodies, or simply meditates on new works, hisgirlfriend,Chunzi, often draws oil paintings quietly upstairs above him, composing beautiful movements with pigments and painting brushes.
Setting out from Here to Embrace the World
LaBar prefers expressing abstract images through his ceramic works. Among his numerous works, one is called "Embrace", an antique blue-and-white porcelain vase encircled by rolling ribbon-like porcelain strips, which has realized an ingenious merge of modernity and tradition in the combination of abstract and concrete elements.
"So there's a contemporary value and a traditional value. And how these two grow symbiotically together? To me, it is very interesting," LaBar holds, who has integrated very traditional elements into many of his works. In his words, just as one is at an intersection point of time, so he can look back upon yesterday or look forward to tomorrow.
There are many components scattering on his desk, perhaps a round hollow ring, or a Rococo-style piece of arc porcelain, all of which are taken as the "starting points of infinite possibilities" in his mind.
"Bestowing a sense of power, Jingdezhen allows you to feel that there are infinite possibilities to experiment and create works. This is true for not only the ceramic industry, but also the whole city. You can feel the city moving forward. It fulfills your ideal self, and this process itself is a kind of art," LaBar observes. "Jingdezhen also brings new motivation and inspiration to all those who come here to pursue their artistic dreams."
After work, LaBar takes care of a kitten, he named "Gaoling", which refers to kaolin peculiar to Jingdezhen, and a puppy he named "Guoji", meaning "international", that he adopted earlier at Taoxichuan.
People are often surprised at how well the two little pets could get along with each other. Gaoling is often ready to help Guoji out when the latter is in trouble.
Photo shows the night falls at Taoxichuan Ceramic Art Avenue, Jingdezhen, May 31, 2020.(Xinhua)
"Incredible things happen every day," said LaBar. There is certain connection between things that seem to be incompatible, but they will have wonderful chemical reactions once you try to connect them and give them enough time.
LaBar likes to create works at deep night, and often takes his little pets around Taoxichuan at night, looking for inspiration while strolling. This has become one of his comfortable and pleasant routine activities.
As well as Taoxichuan, there are several other places that are quite favored by foreigners working in Jingdezhen, such as Sanbao International Ceramic Village, Letian Pottery House, Sculpture Porcelain Factory, and International Ceramic Studio of Jingdezhen Ceramic Institute. It is reported that more than 5,000 foreigners come to learn the techniques in Jingdezhen every year, injecting endless vigor and vitality into the ancient capital of porcelain.
It is here that ancient and modern elements, tradition and innovation, different cultures, different artistic perspectives, and different creation concepts meet. They learn from and ingrate with each other, igniting new sparks while creating infinite possibilities.
Without city wall since ancient times, Jingdezhen is becoming a beacon for more and more ceramic art lovers from all corners of the world.
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