Porcelain Wardrobe – Li Xiaofeng

If you have ever wondered what to do with broken crockery, Chinese artist Li Xiaofeng may just have the answer for you.  Li began life as a muralist, moving into sculpture.  Unlike many sculptors who use wood, stone or metal he decided to use something which was more unique to the Chinese culture, being porcelain shards from archeological sites. Li uses the broken porcelain shards to create unique wearable costumes, albeit that they are probably the weight of armour! He refers to his works as “rearranged landscapes”.  I think they are pretty stunning and can only imagine the time and effort that goes into these!

The designs themselves also have stories in their make up with reference to Chinese philosophy and belief. For example the representation of the The lotus which emerges from mud under water to become a beautiful flower, symbolising purity and rebirth. Images of babies represent fertility, as during the Kangxi Period (1662 – 1772 AD) of the Qing Dynasty (1644 – 1911 AD) the high infant mortality rate meant that people decorated ceramics with babies hoping they would be blessed with children.

Li was also commissioned to complete designs for Sports Brand Lacoste in 2010.  However this was alleged to have created problems in that China forbids the export of ancient artefacts ( quite rightly I would say).  So Li created his own porcelain bowls which included references to the company logo for the sculpture itself.  Lacoste also commissioned Li to design a mens and ladies limited edition range which he did by this by photographing each of the artefact shards and attaching them to the pattern outlines (thus creating something a little easier to manufacture and wear!)

So I will leave you with this  for the weekend……let me know your thoughts…..meanwhile on with the colourful journey.

(images sourced from bocadolobo.com)

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