Without Leaving your Room
2019—ongoing
Porcelain and glaze
Without Leaving Your Room is a poetic investigation into the properties of glaze.
Julie & Jesse transform the glass formula—tuned to melt and fuse onto the porcelain form—from a glassy surface finish typically associated with functionality as a sealant or as a method of embel-lishment, into other-worldly shapes.
Working with the fluid nature of molten glaze, they experimented with traditional techniques of glaz-ing, to create a new language with the material—a three-dimensional expansion of the porcelain vase that adds individuality to standardized casts.
“Giving volume to glaze, we reframed the material as something ethereal and alive—inviting viewers to experience glaze in a new light.”
Echoing how rocks are formed, Julie & Jesse shape each vase over time through layering, heating and compression of oxides and minerals, making each piece unique—a visual record of time, movement, and transformation.
“We created a technique to sculpt with glaze, fashioning shapes that grow, float and shift from a vase. Inspired by the concept of shan (mountain) and shui (water) and the tension that exists be-tween two opposed elements, one solid, the other fluid, we captured the movement of glaze when it flows like water at high temperature only to solidify into a mountain-like formation when cooling.”
Akin to scholar’s rock or painted landscape scrolls, these vessels spark the imagination. The work is a portal or a threshold for the viewers to wander through and travel in a world of flowing clouds, sinuous rivers, and karst landscapes—a piece that strikes an intriguing conversation with vessels traditionally painted with landscape motifs.
“… Without leaving your room you may sit to your heart’s content among streams and valleys…”
Guo Xi (1000–1090)
Words: Julie Progin
Photography: Ricky Wan & Julie Progin
