Ziqi Yuan. Cranbrook Academy of Art. New Talents Award Nominee 2025

Name of graduation student: Ziqi Yuan
Name of guiding teacher: Iris Eichenberg

Nominated by Cranbrook Academy of Art


Ziqi is an artist who works with deep attentiveness and restraint. Her practice unfolds slowly, guided by material intelligence rather than fixed outcomes. She listens carefully— to surfaces, to weight, to wear—and allows her objects to develop through use, time, and contact with the body.
What distinguishes Ziqi is her ability to hold complexity quietly. Her work does not insist on meaning; instead, it carries memory and experience through touch. She understands making as an exchange—between hand and material, object and body—where traces are not erased but accumulated.
I am confident that Ziqi will remain in the field of contemporary jewelry and continue to develop her practice with integrity and depth. She is building a voice that deserves to be heard—one grounded in patience, attention, and embodied knowledge. I trust her fully as a jeweler and as a thinker, and I believe her work will contribute meaningfully to the field in the years to come.
/ Iris Eichenberg


Statement of the artist:
I come from Chongqing, a city in China shaped by rivers. In my hometown, the bodies of elderly people seem to carry the river within them—the same water that has supported life for generations. Their wrinkles echo the movement of water and time. Their bodies hold the smell of the river, and after death, they return to it, becoming part of the mud at the bottom. I imagine their souls continuing to move together, flowing until they enter another body. The river helps me understand life as a process that continues through change.

This way of thinking is present in my work. Objects move through me like a river, carrying memory, weight, and time. They connect to my body, my daily life, and my gestures. While working, I am not only directing the object; the process also shapes how I think and move. Decisions come from my hands, but also from the material itself. The work develops through this exchange, without a fixed direction or final image.

I think of objects as rocks resting on a riverbed—slowly shaped by constant movement. My pieces are moments I capture along this flow. Like rocks, they carry traces of every contact they have encountered. Each touch, whether added or worn away, becomes part of their surface. In this way, the object turns into a kind of diary that can be read through the fingertips. Beneath its skin, it holds space — the space an object can claim in the world. By capturing this“rock skin”in thin silver, I am taught by the material how to stay present while glancing at the past, honoring what has shaped me.

I begin from materials rather than fixed ideas. I focus on weight, surface, balance, and limits. Each material has its own behavior and rhythm. I do not force it, but respond to what it allows. Cutting, binding, wearing, and repairing are central actions. These gestures are simple and repetitive, connected to everyday movement and slow physical labor. Time is essential. I allow pauses, mistakes, and changes to remain visible as part of the object.

My work focuses on objects for the body. Jewelry interests me because it is worn and touched daily. It stays close to the skin and becomes part of movement. When someone wears one of my pieces, the object continues its path. It changes through contact, time, and use. The work is not finished in the studio—the wearer becomes part of the process.
I do not see my objects as decoration or clear symbols. They are quiet things that carry memory and experience without fully explaining them. Meaning comes from use, from time, and from the ongoing exchange between body and material. Like a river, the work keeps moving—carrying traces, leaving marks, and continuing to become.


Contact:
E-mail: Yuanziqi001@gmail.com
Instagram: @ziqi_yuannn


Find out more about Cranbrook Academy of Art