Shu Wang: A vocation for multitudes

Examining contemporary jewellery requires an awareness of the profound complexity that extends beyond the mere physical piece in front of us. When we have the opportunity to observe studio jewellery, we should consider its meaning, the research behind it, and the invaluable work that each piece represents.

The dialogue among the body, the ornament, and the viewer offers a tangible relationship while we observe the artistic research language provided by the Chinese artist and jeweller Shu Wang (2).

Born in China, where she studied Nonmetallic Inorganic Engineering at the University of Science and Technology in Beijing, Shu Wang moved to the United States, where she obtained her BFA at Rochester Institute of Technology; she then obtained her MFA degree at the School of the Art Institute in Chicago.

My work originates from reactions, emotions, and expectations, reflecting the ambivalent relationship I have as a woman and as an individual with the world around me.

Shu Wang's multidisciplinary approach combines digital research and fabrication, along with new material experimentation, giving form and depth to the unexpressed world of emotions that, throughout her research and artistic practice, has found its way into several projects from 2019 to the present day.

Since her very first project (Box, 2019), both geometry and fabric dialogue together: this piece acts as a foreteller for all her future projects, whispering the fertile collaboration with the world of fashion, but also with the world of contemporary arts animated by body sculptures and installations.
Shu Wang, Bag: Box, 2020. Canvas, sterling silver.
12 x 5 x 20 cm.
From series: Box.



Shu Wang’s artistic practice engages with jewelry and delves into the rich realms of ornament, fashion, and contemporary art. Her achievements over the years reveal her as a fully realized contemporary artist, capable of expressing her diverse inspirations through multiple media. Through her relentless research, she broadens the scope of what it means to be a jewelry artist.
 
The set of face ornaments for the Beijing Opera (2020) explores the intimate relationship between ornament and the body. It foretells her major projects that will follow in 2021 and 2022, including the project 气 (QI).


Shu Wang, Set: Beijing Opera, 2020. Wax, polyester, sterling silver.
Ring: 8 x 2 x 16 cm; Face decoration: 7 x 5 x 20 cm.
Photo by: Bowen Yao.


Published and featured in several jewellery portals and magazines, such as Current Obssesion (3) in 2021; Cluster London (2022) (4), Dream Machine (UrbanGlass, New York Jewelry Week, 2024) (5 )along with her award at The Romanian Jewellery Week (6) in 2022 (Global Design Graduate Award), the 2021 project 气(QI)  adds a new step in Shu Wang’s artistic practice. (7)

In Chinese, 气(QI) could be simply interpreted as air, gas, weather, atmosphere, etc. But it is more commonly used to describe the balance in a spiritual way. The flow of 气(QI) resembles the motion of energy. Whether there is a life or not, the loss of 气(QI) means perish, while the existence of 气(QI) represent alive. I used my way to transform 气(QI) into a geometrical shape to visualize and render the complex connotation of 气(QI) in the design. Since 气(QI) is invisible, I explored how to feel or visualized the 气(QI), explains Shu Wang. Her two major guidelines, geometry and the free exploration of the body, give birth to stunning pieces that are both ornaments and sculptures for the body, widening both artistic concepts.


Shu Wang, Earrings: Extension, 2021. 3D Resin(SLA), Pearl, Sterling Silver, Fabric Dye.
Photo, Bowen Yao.
From series: 气/(QI).


Shu Wang, Piece: Hazy, 2021. Nylon 3d print, powder-coated copper, cotton, silver.
16.5 x 23 x 24 cm. Photo by: Bowen Yao.
From series: 气/(QI).


Shu Wang, Bag: Floating, 2021. Sterling silver, glass bead, acrylic, nylon string.
15 x 15 x 21 cm. Photo by: Bowen Yao.
From series: 气/(QI).


The field of exploration that lies between ornament and sculpture leads Shu Wang to another major project: 套 TÀO (2022-2024) (8). The ornaments become bigger, while the author focuses on sculptures and installations.

TÀO is an unspoken role that prevents spontaneous expansion, regulating and restricting individuals to adapt and to fit into human society. […] In the process of seeking coexistence, I gradually learned to create my own TÀO as a response. While TÀO encompasses ties, conventions, and traces, it can also provide cover for protection, space for respite, and the equilibrium I seek, explains the artist (9) on her website.

This long project - which saw the Shu Wang working from 2022 to 2024- is divided in two distinctive sections: Humanization (2022-2023), along with the sections Symbiosis I and Symbiosis II (2023-2024) has been featured on renowned art portals and venues such as: Rockaway (by 4heads at Rockaway Artist Alliance, New York, 2025), Pause·Sip·Breathe (Flowing Space, New York, 2025) (11), By Degree III (Project Space of Chicago Sculpture International, Chicago, 2024). (12)

 In Humanization, both sculptures and installations explore the relationship between Nature and humankind: the forms freely created by Nature are modeled and shaped for the body by the intervention of the artist, enhancing the duality of both powers, the one of Nature and the one of humankind. The result is a series of sculptures that adapt the shape of stone and mountain from nature but are molded into pre-determined form that do not exist in nature as a result of shaping by humans. (13)


Shu Wang. 2022-2023, Installation.
Humanization | TÀO.


While the Humanization section focuses on the dialogue between Nature and humankind, the Symbiosis sections act like a magnifying lens on those unwritten and unspoken dynamics and external influences that regulate society: The transparent resin track, which was draped and deformed from the body, suggests a sense of being shaped or molded by external influences. These represent the standards of how I am expected to behave, both as a child and as an adult. The capsules that could be attached symbolize attempts to break free or rebel against expectations. Turning the stiff track into a more personalized representation adds depth to the struggle against conformity. (14)


Shu Wang, Sculpture: Cage, 2024.
Clear resin, aluminum, steel, chain, jumping.
180 x 155 x 15 cm


Shu Wang. 2022-2023, Installation.
Symbiosis I| TÀO.


The wearable, for me, is not an end but a beginning. It is the simplest way for an object to encounter a body, to invite awareness, to generate intimacy. Through these encounters, the boundary between self and other, maker and viewer, begins to dissolve, and the work becomes a shared moment of perception, states the author. Her vocation is all in these lines: her multitudes, her innumerable voices, and her inexhaustible research.

Nichka Marobin





Notes:
(1) Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass (final "Death-Bed" edition, 1891-2) (David McKay, 1892) via The Poetry Foundation poetryfoundation.org/poems/45477/song-of-myself-1892-version
(2) Shu Wang website s-w-shu-wang.com/, Shu Wang profile on KLIMT0 klimt02.net/jewellers/shu-wang
(3) For CURRENT OBSESSION see current-obsession.com/so-mint-qi-by-shu-wang/
(4) For CLUSTER LONDON see cluster-london.com/jewellery-article-shu-wang-patricia-iglesias
(5) For DREAM MACHINE see dreammachineexhibition.com/2024?itemId=hp3eut6tv6i29irqdjg5kb70pfgliq
(6) For ROMANIAN JEWELLERY WEEK see romanianjewelryweek.com/participants-2022/shu-wang
(7) For the project “气(QI)” see s-w-shu-wang.com/QI
(8) For the project “套 TÀO”  ee Shu Wang’s website s-w-shu-wang.com/TAO-2022-2024
(9)  See TÀO s-w-shu-wang.com/TAO-2022-2024
(10) For ROCKAWAY BY 4HEADS see 4heads.org/4heads/
(11) For FLOWING SPACE see flowingspace.org/pause-sip-breathe
(12) For PROJECT SPACE CHICAGO see chicagosculpture.org/csi-project-space
(13) See note 8.
(14)  Shu Wang – SYMBIOSIS s-w-shu-wang.com/TA0-Symbiosis_1-2023

 

About the author

Nichka Marobin is an Italian art historian specialized in Dutch and Flemish art history. She graduated from the faculty of letters of Padova (Italy) with a dissertation on Renaissance ornament prints from 1500 to 1550 in Germany and the Low Lands, focusing on the migration of forms, themes, and styles on the engravings of Cornelis Bos, Cornelis Floris II, Lucas van Leyden and the German Little Masters. In 2011, she founded The Morning Bark, a bloGazette on arts and humanities, where she posts about arts with a multidisciplinary path, including fine arts, books, fashion, and contemporary jewellery.