As projections of the real world onto two-dimensional surfaces, maps carry—in abstract visual form—the journeys of past generations and the spatial relationships between locations. Maps provide their users with potential routes for exploration, potentially leading to the redrawing of boundaries, whether physical or symbolic. Ceramics, instilled with a wealth of techniques and embodied experience accumulated over their 20,000 years of history, may in turn be viewed as a vast, complex, and constantly updated survey map. Established techniques regarding the wetness of clay, kiln temperatures, and the preparation of glazes are akin to the clearly demarcated routes traversed by earlier travelers. While most newcomers will follow the indicted directions to reach their intended destinations, other ceramic practitioners boldly tread the fine line between exploration and disorientation, stumbling upon uncharted forest paths that lead to unexpected places.

This exhibition showcases the practices of nine emerging artists, each whom draws on the rich traditions and open possibilities of ceramics while also establishing their own improvisatory creative paths. This journey exploring new directions in contemporary ceramics starts in the dark depths of the ocean: Sea Creature Lantern, a large-scale installation created by architecture studio USEFULLNESS LAB in collaboration with ROYOKO, fuses delicate linglong porcelain with metallic industrial machinery, transforming these materials into a living entity reminiscent of a marine animal. From here, the exhibition drifts on to varied geographies. Masaomi Yasunaga places glazes at the center of his experimentation with ceramics. By subverting material hierarchies and embracing the loss of control during the firing process, he seeks to remove subjective authorship from pottery-making and restore the essential beauty of vessels as a form. Xu Zhiwei deconstructs and rebuilds clay, folding it into landscapes formed out of refined lines and surfaces. Pairing layers of slip with regimented modern architectural forms, Xiao Wei expresses the alienation of the individual within contemporary society. Keita Matsunaga uses natural lacquer to leave textures recalling growth rings or rippling water on the surface of his works, constructing a sensory dialogue between natural rhythms and human intervention.

Ascending the steps to the second floor, visitors will arrive at several sites that tie together the earth and human life. During a residency in Yixing, artist Yang Xinguang drew inspiration from the city’s ceramic traditions, using the area’s zisha (purple clay) to create organism-like vessels for plants. The ambiguous manner in which the plants appear to be both sustained and consumed by their containers suggests the endless cycles of ecology. Asya Marakulina also created her works while on a residency in Yixing, focusing on the relationship between the city and its residents. Utilizing traditional slab techniques, she reconstructs local vernacular architecture, in which public and domestic spaces overlap. In The Name of Gold, Geng Xue transcends ceramics’ limitations by integrating the medium into a large-scale video installation, expressing her anxieties and doubts about the meaning of life through narrative landscapes constructed out of clay. Liu Xi covers the surface of white porcelain in black ink and combines geometric forms with gentle, fabric-like textures, conveying a sense of soft resistance to extreme oppression as she suggests how individuals might survive within rigid systems.

The theme of the map continues in the exhibition’s design. Translucent curtains, symbolizing geographical boundaries such as mountains and rivers, divide the exhibition space into different territories. Viewers may freely choose what path and sequence they follow, opening up new spatial possibilities within the exhibition—or even pushing against the boundaries that define how we see and think. “Improvisational Drift: New Directions in Ceramics” is curated by UCCA Assistant Curator Zhang Yao.