Jewellery and art may stand as material emblems of wealth and power. But if you hold your breath and listen to their shapeshifting essence, they will reveal another truth—“The sky and the earth were born with me, and all things and I are one.” —《庄子·齐物论》Zhuangzi, The Theory of Equal Things.
Inspired by this non-divisive mentality, curators Huiyu Lan and Tim C Huang of Purist Gallery present their third exhibition, Morphing, then formless, from the 27th of February to 15th of March 2025, showcasing exquisite jewellery, metalwork, and ceramics by a remarkable group of artists, including Oriana Catton, Jingfu Chen (Theo), Jundan Chen, Hayeong Jeon (Viviana), KA/GA, Minjeong Kim, Yuan Xing Lin (Layla), Maria Stella Lydaki, Alon, Alina R.J, Pawel Tajer, Ruiyi Wang (Rachel), Youyou Wang, Vespera Xander, and Lanxin Zhang (Laxy).
What if there were no hierarchy between the rare and the ordinary — Morphing, then formless invite you to reexamine the relationship between human and object. Or perhaps, not to examine at all?
Maria Stella Lydaki initiates this indefinable journey with her interactive installation Lingering Longing (2022). A seemingly endless chain of black rubber-coated glyphs reflects from a circular abyss, while wearable silver casts of branches in The Longing of the Oracle (2023) evoke an ancestral yearning, like a forgotten language or the echo of Pythia’s voice. Similarly, Pawel Tajer’s cast-bronze sunflowers in “They waited so long that they turned into gold” (2024) conjure a landscape of absence—their real counterparts lost to time. These copies are like words so distant they have eroded beyond recognition, what is paradise without us? Extending through this metallic terrain, Alon seamlessly integrates utilitarian objects with unconventional forms. Tentacular metal vines coil from the floor, insatiable in their search for nourishment, only to be met with the controlled resistance of flat tabletops, creating an equilibrium between organic movement and imposed order. On a micro level, Yuanxing Lin (Layla) experiments with thin metal wires, meticulously interlacing, soldering, and fusing silver and copper into fragmented bowls. These works unveil the tension between chaos and structure, exposing the skeletal framework of an empowered beauty through the delicate technique of woven metal.
If metal can morph into rhetorical, healing, contradictory, or reflective states, what of ceramics—another material shaped by the earth?
Ruiyi Wang’s “The Restaurant”. Courtesy of the artists and Purist Gallery. Photography: Rene Lazovy
In “The Restaurant”, Ruiyi Wang (Rachel) reconfigures fine tableware supplied by a Michelin-starred restaurant. Scored and marked plates leave space for silver cutlery to bend, jump, or push into careful balance. These compositions appear soft yet are solid to touch— like hidden social rules within the dining space. Through these domestic artefacts, Ruiyi distils primal human instincts, exposing the subtle transgressions within ritualised decorum. Meanwhile, Youyou Wang’s Threshold expresses flexible thinking by challenging the idea of completion with the partially broken beige-grey ceramic glaze. Through organic cracks and surface erosion exposing the internal brown, the embodied imperfection questions where the boundary of “finished” truly lies. Viviana (Hayeong Jeon) expresses introspection through Resonance of Reflection (2024), a series of fluid ceramic forms in subdued tones. Their undulating curves indicates the significant method for externalizing internal feelings of unease and loneliness, providing a pathway for self-expression and self-reflection. These immersive experiences fostered the observation of unseen internal through Yin-Yang philosophy, reflecting her practice of maintaining a sharp sense of awareness while navigating the resonance of fluctuating reflections.
Expanding into crystalline compositions, Jundan Chen’s I N C U B A T I O N (2023) and C 1 0 H 1 6 O (2023) invite tactile and emotional engagement with the reflective nature of glass. These pieces united by her independent brand, X.SALIS, capture the ephemeral beauty of nature through the interplay of light, colour, and texture, inviting the wearer to interact with the fluidity of their own surroundings. Also an independent brand, Jewellery as narrative unfolds in KA’s GumDesignStore, where themes of departure and longing permeate his work. His ethereal metal rings materialise characters caught in perpetual goodbyes, encapsulating the transient nature of immigration. KA aims to unpack these feelings of farewell via otherworldly metal rings, materialising the characters to tell a story that connects him and all immigrants, to the world or the people who can or cannot stay where they want.
Lanxin Zhang (Laxy) reinterprets bodily gestures with silver-plated brass jewellery in Preparation Gesture and Holding Gesture II(2023), capturing the nuanced tension of hands in motion. Examining ubiquitous bodily habits shaped by digital devices in modern society, shifting the narrative focus from the worn object to the wearing of our own physicality. Looking on the hand again, Vespera Xander’s rings are not just holding bodily motion but concentrated with geological tensions in the diamonds, sapphire, and amethysts. Spiked aesthetics in her rings and the crown of CBT-65 Angel (2023) symbolise a desire for self-protection. The title references CBT-65, a type of razor wire sharp enough to cut skin. In wearing these pieces, one wards off external threats but risks self-inflicted wounds—an allegory for the delicate balance between isolation and vulnerability. Similarly, Alina R.J’s pure consciousness, interrupted (2024) encases a flawless crystal sphere within sharp barbed wire. How many barriers must one navigate to access the unconscious self? Her sculptures crescent holder (2024) and unlocked (if I sell my soul, would you let me go?) hints at revelation, the illumination of fire or the silver key could perhaps reveal the unspoken truth. Before that, she will never stop researching on the Jungian exploration of the psyche, collective unconscious, symbols, archetypes, the process of Individuation and The Self.
Jingfu’s Orchid (2025), Lanxin Zhang’s Preparation Gesture (2023) and Holding Gesture II (2023), Vespera Xander’s rings and the crown of CBT-65 Angel (2023), Alina R.J’s unlocked (if I sell my soul, would you let me go?), Minjeong Kim’s Wisdom Tooth Ring(2021). Courtesy of the artists and Purist Gallery. Photography: Rene Lazovy
Turning inward, Minjeong Kim shifts focus to the body’s tactile experience of the environment. In Negative Boundary Bracelet (2024) and Another Skin_hand (2024), she alters familiar textures, disrupting the neurological equilibrium that filters sensory input. By heightening fabric’s sensation or shifting the tactile nature of touch, she challenges how we interpret everyday interactions. Her Wisdom Tooth Ring (2024) further encourage creative perception—the gemstone remains hidden from direct view, visible only through mirrors, subverting conventional notions of value and beauty. Oriana Catton’s Stretched (2024) animates 24ct gold through performance, its vulval form carefully pried open to be adorned. The work positions the vaginal orifice as an intimate border, exposing the vulva as a frame crossed by external bodies—in pleasure, violence, and birth. The performance permanently alters its shape, using the properties of annealed metal to contemplate both material and emotional elasticity, physical and psychological resilience. To Have and To Hold no. 1 further subverts jewellery conventions, prompting reflection on the preciousness of memories—examines tensions within familial relationships and homes that feel disconnected or fractured. Finally, Theo’s Orchid (2025) embodies fluid states— when worn, it becomes an extension of people’s identity, merging human and botanical forms. When placed in a terrarium, it transforms into an autonomous creature, blurring the line between organic and artificial life. It became an extension of their identity, when rested in the terrarium, it is a creature on its own.
With such vitality and contemplative energy within these works, Tim wonders: Is metal merely extracted ore, or something more transcendentally empowering? Huiyu ponders: Is crystal simply frozen light, or an enlightening vision? Perhaps these materials carry their own memories, stories, and lives. As Hui Ming Jing states, “Divine fire takes form; emptiness and appearance are but reflections.” Objects are droplets of time, yet they may also be void. In departing from the earth, crystallising from air, and reshaping within human hands—what truly intertwines in these fleeting convergences?
Perhaps they need not speak. They move between your fingers, rest upon your neck, flicker between light and shadow—waiting for you to pause, to listen, to dissolve with them. No duality, no separation. Morphing, then formless…
Top image credit
External view: Purist Gallery’s exhibition Morphing, then formless. Courtesy of the artists and Purist Gallery. Photography: Rene Lazovy
