Ubi TopYoung 2014

Artist list

Chien-Lin Su, Dong Ding, Jingjing Zhang, Jiwon Yang, Jingyao Sun, Li Liang, Li-An Young, Menglu Huang, Wenyu Liao, Yezhi Zhang

From over 50 Asian jewellery graduates an international jury selected the 10 best submissions. You can find innovative and elegant pieces made out of bamboo and copper. Personal stories expressed by silk thread and historical references of jade burial suits and more.

Jewellery designers are famous for their innovative use of material and their ability to make small wearable sculptures. If you want to see what is going on in this new discipline, you can can find a nice and fresh overview in Ubi Gallery.

The top 3 of this award exhibition is accredited to Liang LI , Jingyao SUN and Jiwon YANG. Congratulations! We will work on a new exhibition for coming year with you.


Chien-Lin SU (tw)
BA, Department of Arts and Design, National Hsinchu University of Education | MA, Metal Arts and Jewelry Program, Graduate Institute of Applied Arts, Tainan National University of the Arts
The brooches of Chien-Lin SU ask for a detailed look and some time in silence. What is it that we see and can’t see? He uses a combination of car coating from his father’s workshop and traditional ink painting. By the delicate way he combines it, he is able to bridge the spiritual and mechanical differences between the materials.

Dong DING (cn)
Academy of international Visual Arts Shanghai
The work of Dong DING is about memories. He used various materials to interpret the abstract concept, from metal, acrylic and wood, to found objects he collected on the streets of Shanghai. The pieces of the old street walls are appealing elements in the work. The outcome not only reflected the rationale and simplicity of his design aesthetics, but also the old, weathered, aging nature of memories. Interaction is also an important feature of the work: he allows the wearer to rotate, move and adjust how the pieces can be worn in order to enhance the connection between the wearer and his jewellery.

Jingjing ZHANG (cn)
Jewellery Department, Central Academy of Fine Arts Beijing, China
The very personal work of JingJing ZHANG consists of 3 extreme long necklaces, that reach from top to bottom. The inspiration for the work comes from her relation with her mother. The dependence from her mother on her, the interference and care, made her see the importance of cutting the umbilical cord, to grow your own independent life. The delicate silk threads show us that the independence is still fragile, but not intertwined anymore.

Jiwon YANG (kr)
BA, Metalworks & Jewelry Kookmin University, Seoul, Korea
Jiwon YANG made a series of recognizable animals, made of plastic elements. Parts of the animals are changed into a colourful addition, made by found plastics. It makes it ironic, funny and asks questions about the use of those parts. The strongest part becomes weak, or the other way around.

Jingyao SUN (cn)
Jewellery Department, Central Academy of Fine Arts Beijing, China
Jingyao SUN is fascinated by the decomposition of beautiful symbols, like roses. She depicts the magic circle of growing, returning to ashes and nourishing new life again. It is the breath of life. She uses soil, rose petals, cotton and brass in warm mysterious colours. The natural texture of this self-made material is soft and intimate. It blends with the body and by the size of it, still is able to communicate a statement.

Li LIANG (cn)
BA+MA, Jewellery Art, HDK University of Design and Crafts, Gothenburg, Sweden
With extreme thin copper folded in elegant repetitive shapes, Li LIANG expresses the consistently changing ways and moves of the sea. She sees a parallel with Chinese writing and the energy of the moves of the brushes. The lines and movements became her language as a jewellery artist. The beauty and eternity are engaging and awesome.

Li-An YOUNG (tw)
BA, Applied Arts & Design, FH Dusselfdorf Germany | MA, Applied Arts & Design, FH Duddeldorf Germany | MA, Juweelontwerp en Edelsmeedkunst, Koninklijke Academie voor Schone Kunsten Antwerpen, Belgium
Li-An YOUNG only made one very personal object, very recognizable for all young people who moved abroad. It handles about questions, about expectations, cultural identity and unknown social rules. The main object represents her cocoon, her comfort zone, from where the complicated and tension of lines and connections starts and returns. It is a delicate and strong piece.

Menglu HUANG (cn)
BA+MA, School of Jewellery, City University Birmingham
Menglu HUANG has a fresh approach to jewellery. She presents the jewellery box as the jewellery itself. The jewellery box hides the function and when explored and opened it unveils its wearability. This interaction to use it to its full extend is an important part of her work.

Wenyu LIAO (cn)
Jewellery Department, Central Academy of Fine Arts Beijing, China
Wenyu LIAO’s work is inspired on the jade burial suit from the Han Dynasty. Those traditional clothes exist of small square jade pieces, knit together covering the complete body, in order to keep the body and soul together for eternity. The work of Wenyu LIAO uses the same sewing technique to keep small square pieces together. But inside there is nothing. It is not that the piece covers the body, but just the other way around. People playing with the objects are covering it. To make it, Wenyu LIAO just need to free his soul first, instead of putting it away and protecting. To create things, you need to transfer; you need interaction, instead of wrapping.

Yezhi ZHANG
MA, Applied art and design, School of Art,Design and Architecture, Aalto University, Helsinki, Finland | BA, Product design, Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing, China
Focused on techniques and materials, Yezhi ZHANG was able to transfer bamboo into delicate patterns of a necklace and bracelet. In this pattern she makes a play of light and shadow possible, so characteristics for its original state.