Lulls Between Wanderings

This project consists of multiple slip-casted ceramic vases of identical shape. The initial intention was to make a set of useful products. Because of the special property of ceramics, important decisions have to be made to minimize waste since fired stoneware can technically exist for centuries. Along with the time-consuming making process, some reflection on housing and belonging slowly revealed in my mind.

The form of the individual vase referenced to the appearance of lighthouses. A lighthouse is normally built near a harbor or in dangerous sea areas to guide the passing ships their way or to help them get through the route safely.  As a result, lighthouses are somehow a symbol of guidance and security, which can evoke warm and comfortable memories for the audience.

The lighthouse itself is also an architecture that provides shelter for people. When it comes to housing, I immediately think of international and out-of-state students, whose homes are so far away from the schools they now attend. I’ve moved a lot during my time in college so far. Upon the end of each leasing term, I restlessly seek a better place for the upcoming year. Those connections I briefly had with people who lived near me were so transient. We were close only because we physically lived close, but once we were farther apart, we almost turned back to strangers. Such pattern has become some convention for us: we could get together for warmth only. The vases can stack up on top of each other to create an atmosphere of community, but at the end of the day each vase still stands on itself and they are such flexible units that can be moved individually for recombination anytime. I won’t deny the temporary sense of belonging here. It exists shortly but it doesn’t mean it was a hallucination. We are constantly travelers.

Ever since I left home for college at the age of eighteen, my belongingness has messed up. It was totally understandable that my parents changed my previous bedroom into a reading room for the convenience of my younger brother (due to the prohibitively high housing prices in Beijing). The first time I flew back to Beijing, I realized it seemed to no longer be “my home”, but “my parent’s home that I can live in”. It was as comfortable as I always remembered, but something was just different. I didn’t even fully unpack my luggage because I knew I would be leaving soon. A month later when I came back to the apartment I rented in Berkeley, I felt more relaxed. I’m not as confirmed about where I truly belong.

Besides the nostalgic emotional value, the project aims to produce a set of functional vases as brush holders. The hollow spaces on the vase, which mimics the windows on a lighthouse, allow painters to insert their brushes into different holes to prevent the pigments on the brushes from mixing together. I came up with this design during the an oil painting class. I used to hold a dozen of brushes in my left hand in a weird gesture to keep them apart until my fingers cramped. This vase solved this pain for me and was widely appreciated by my classmates. The ultimate goal of this project is to give away the vases to painters who need them. This action of relocating the vases to “new homes” is an analog to resolving the lost sense of belonging.