The Language of Fire: An Interview with Yao Bo

Ceramicist, author, and professor Yao Bo discusses her ceramic practice and the theoretical, social, and aesthetic concerns that shape it. She discusses her commitment to feminist practice, and her recognition of the role of unnamed women and craftpersons in the long history of ceramics in China. She discusses the role of “elemental” thinking (earth, wind, water, fire, human) in her work and the techniques she employs to allow the expression of elementality with the least possible human interference. She also discusses the distinctive space she created in the mountains near her university for ceramic and other artistic practices, and her philosophical and aesthetic distance from the commercial sector.