A young pottery artist has found his purpose in creating ceramic wares infused with traditions that can accompany people in their lives for a long time. He calls these life-inspiring values and meanings the soul of pottery.
It’s been almost four years since Hsu Ting Chia, a graduate of the National Taipei University of Education, Taiwan, went from being broke after setting up his pottery studio amid the 2020 pandemic to carving out a sustainable path and expanding his business.
Humble Beginnings
Mr. Hsu, from Tainan, was born into a family of teachers and artists. With his father working as an ink-painting teacher, and his mother as an elementary school teacher, pursuing a major in fine arts and opting for ink-painting was only natural for him. However, he later switched courses to explore the art of making pottery after realizing how it connects the three elements of soil, life, and soul into one tangible creation.“Many of the arts now want to try new things, but they can’t find good roots and foundations to build their art on,” Mr. Hsu, 30, told The Epoch Times. “I feel that pottery contains a lot of traditional things that can still be appreciated by people.”
After completing his military training under Taiwan’s mandatory conscription system, Mr. Hsu talked to a friend about pursuing his passion for pottery design and decided that the best option for him would be to set up his own studio.
“In the field of pottery, the longer you work, the more familiar you become with the craft. Your skills will become better and better. But if you stop for a while, you will need some time to practice and to brush up on your skills,” he said.
In the long term, Mr. Hsu wanted to establish a foundation for a stable income in order to provide for his girlfriend after marriage; he didn’t want to juggle between his career, passion, and family. The entrepreneurship path wasn’t easy for sure, and then the pandemic hit shortly after Mr. Hsu opened his studio, affecting his business; soon his girlfriend left him.
Carving Out a Path
Raised to be a person of integrity and responsibility, Mr. Hsu persevered to find a way. He came across Pinkoi, an online platform that promotes experiential courses, and began offering pottery classes.His business gradually grew as customers introduced his courses to their local and overseas friends after having a good personal experience at his studio. Apart from teaching the basics of the art, he tries to make an everlasting impression on his customers with simple gestures like offering desserts to calm down travel-worn visitors who come to his studio. How the customers feel matters, he says.
“I have always held the idea of treating my customers as my friends,” he said. “I treat them very sincerely. I told them how they can do a certain pottery design better and how it may not turn out well.”
Many of the customers, who are in their 20s and 30s later became his friends and returned repeatedly for his in-person classes.
“I feel that we have to treat people kindly,” he said. “From the start, I have never thought about using pottery to make big money. I knew that with this business model, it might not be possible to earn a lot. I feel that it’s fine not to make much money, rather what’s important is I shouldn’t betray my conscience.”
The spiritual practice not only helped Mr. Hsu with his spine problems but also made him calmer: an essential virtue needed in the field of pottery work.
“Working on pottery designing and practicing self-cultivation have benefited me a lot. If I’m only working on pottery, I don’t think I can get into a good, calm state of mind,” he said. “Because of cultivating my inner self, I feel more peaceful and can accept failures and setbacks and can quickly get up and keep moving on.”
Moreover, Mr. Hsu credits the self-cultivation practice for his improved observation skills and sensibilities. He says his understanding of human emotions and mental states has increased as well, which comes in handy when he teaches a group of customers and helps him ensure they are able to produce satisfactory artwork at the end of the class.
The Soul of Pottery
Mr. Hsu endeavors to fulfill the ultimate goal of being a traditional artist: breathing the soul, the inherent meaning, into each of the artworks; and he believes that people should get an insight into that when they look at any art piece.“I feel that an artwork should have its soul—what it wants to express. When people see my artworks, they feel comfortable and like them, and this artwork can accompany them in life,” Mr. Hsu said.
To illustrate what this means, Mr. Hsu shared about his graduation-level project titled “81 Cups.”
He made 81 cups and bowls of various shapes using different clays and glazing methods. Every visitor at the exhibition was given the chance to pick a cup that they felt “resembled them the most,” and they were allowed to bring it home with them, but the requirement was they had to spend some time with their cup and write something about it.
The responses were interesting, says Mr. Hsu, as some wrote about their observations from the exhibition while others shared their life story with him.
“My thoughts and intentions at that time were like these cups and bowls resemble different people in the world. They too are born in this world and have different appearances. Their innate character is human, they are still a bit different,” Hsu said.
Mr. Hsu also created a thought-provoking artwork—an adult lion covered with wounds and scars, and a lion cub that is white and beautiful. He wanted people to reflect on their lives and whether the path they have chosen is what they had originally wanted.
“When you compare your current self to your original self, how would you feel? Would you think that your original appearance is better? Would you have any regrets when faced with the innate purity and innocence of a child? You might actually feel a bit scared and remorseful that you have let down your original self. This is the meaning of the lion and cub artwork,” he said.
In addition to having a traditional and moral touch, Mr. Hsu ensures his “life pottery” offers practical value as well—it must be useable. So he avoids using any unsuitable ingredients during the glazing and firing process.
“Some ingredients are not suitable to be used for glazing, as there could be some problems when the person is using it,” he said.
Talking about the several differences between handmade and factory-made pottery, he said the weight configuration, glaze color, and the area where the mouth touches an individual piece are all unique, and all of these attributes make handmade pottery a better choice.
“My studio holds that each art piece that you get is unique; it can accompany you in life and changes with you,” Mr. Hsu said. “Our art pieces might be equivalent to the price of you having a feast, but they can accompany you for several years, or a lifetime. I feel it’s no harm for everyone to add some things of value in your life and give your life a moral and traditional boost.”
