Annie Le Santo discusses the heritage of blue and white porcelain with Lin Wang and how she reflects this Eastern tradition with her contemporary Western aesthetic.
From Lin Wang’s studio in Oslo, blue and white porcelain plates and sculptures are born. While some pieces echo traditional Chinese craftsmanship, a closer look reveals unexpected motifs drawn from both Eastern and Western corners of the world. For Wang, porcelain is not simply her chosen medium but a language, and one which she describes as her ‘mother tongue’.
‘Porcelain is sensitive, just like me,’ she says, a statement that captures both the intimacy and the intensity of herself and her practice. Wang’s artistic journey has consistently been anchored by a sense of place and a yearning to belong. She juxtaposes Chinese blue and white export porcelain motifs alongside Western symbols, transforming objects into holders of memories and facilitators of cultural dialogue.
Through her work, Wang continuously returns to her own lived experiences, while also looking outwards at other people around her, demonstrating the enduring power of art to connect across continents.