When Yang Ce of local pottery brand, Synceramic, first told us that she was having a mid-year exhibition, we both knew we had to check it out as we (and evidently, a lot of you guys) love her line of tableware with craggy exterior! We were thrilled to be checking out some of her newer works and was just interested to see what she has been up to.
Nestled in a quiet corner of a commercial building in Bedok, Yang Ce's shared studio (with a jeweller, an antiques collector and a few other artists) gave us massive industrial hipster-y vibes! As usual, we took too many photos of her lovely exhibition and couldn't decide on just a few so scroll to the bottom for more snaps of her pieces and showcase.
Plenty of teacups and mugs for us to ogle at!
A plate in her showcase that caught our eye
We also managed to grab a hold of her for a couple of minutes to learn more about her pottery journey.
Tell us a little bit about your ceramic journey!
I started off as an assistant art instructor teaching ceramic to primary school kids, almost ten years ago. Currently, I am a full-time potter. With the strong support from my family, friends and new found art community, I decided to make the leap to be a full-time potter in early 2020! I call it, the special 2020, year of creation!
I am currently working from a shared studio, in an industrial park in Bedok!
Working from a shared studio seems like a great idea as you can share the costs of running a little studio, which can slowly add up. Are there any major issues you face using a shared studio?
The only major 'problem' is that I stay in Bukit Panjang and the studio is all the way at Bedok! It's actually not quite a big issue now as I am getting used to the long travel. I use the time on the train to catch up on replying emails and messages.
How has the last year's circuit breaker period (lockdown) affected your pottery work?
During that period, it actually shifted my focus to making more pots. I am very thankful for the plant community out there and their stay home with plant trends which stimulated clay maker for more pot making opportunities.
What’s your creative flow/ process like?
I, simply, let the clay take the lead. So sometimes when an idea pops into my head, I try to work on the clay as soon as possible to try it out. Some central themes to my clay practice that intrigues me are the idea of clay expansion, textures and contrast, geometric illustrations as well as positive and negative space.
Yang Ce's gas-fired vases and tea cups at our Open Studio last year
Do you have a specific making method that you are currently working with and where do you draw inspiration for your products?
At this moment, I am using a lot of the sodium silicate pottery technique for my surface textures. It creates the craggy or crackling exterior that you see on my cups. I use plenty of adhesive tapes too to create the overlapping glazes and textures.
A favourite at our Open Studio last year - her champagne rose mug
For my product lines, I usually draw inspiration from a lot of different avenues - paintings, landscapes, textures, colours and even music!
Which other ceramicists do you follow closely?
Kodai Ujiie, Akira Satake and Rafa Pérez
What do you think of the pottery scene in Singapore?
It is definitely getting more and more vibrant! There are a lot more potters / makers now and there is a wide range of styles!
Her teal blue sake cups
You can check out her full tableware range here. In the meantime, enjoy the rest of her photographs below!
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Mid-year showcase
Some of her new works
Big Big Small Small exhibition
These vases will be part of the upcoming Big Big Small Small exhibition. Here are the details:
Big Big Small Small 大大小小
Dates: 4th and 5th September 2021
Hours: 10am - 9pm
Location: Eat & Sip Studio; 50 Gambas Crescent, Proxima@Gambas, #09-11, Singapore 757022
You can register your attendance here.
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