AVA Year Four student Chan Cheuk-yan, Glo has received the first prize of the open category in the 2018 Tea Ware by Hong Kong Potters Competition presented by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department! The competition was organised by the Flagstaff House Museum of Tea Ware. In the same competition, AVA Class of 2015 graduate, Hui Chun-kit, Ryan also won the prize of excellence. These two winning works will be on display at the Flagstaff House Museum of Tea Ware with other selected teaware in December 2018.
Glo made her teaware “Encounter” with porcelain and brass. She used the techniques of colour inlay and image transfer, and applied a transparent glaze on the teaware. The linear circle symbolises the trace of life, while the dot is an emblem of the encounters in life. She said, “I made this pottery set to enjoy tea with my parents; I long for the day when we can take pleasure in each other’s company.”
Ryan said he used to adopt functional ware as the medium to record his daily life. He was impressed by the cracked and broken ancient earthenware found in museums. He recreated the beauty that is found in vestiges of the past by using silver for the surface decoration of his prize-winning teaware “Eclipse”. After daily use and oxidation, the silver surface will give different impressions. He let his teaware bring out the concept of “Wabi Sabi”, the Japanese worldview that centres on the acceptance of transience and finds beauty in things that are imperfect and are affected by the passage of time.
This year, the competition received submissions from 332 entrants, the highest number ever recorded. The competition was divided into School Category and Open Category. Based on the criteria of originality, creativity, technical competence and functionality, the adjudication panel selected winners for the first, second and third prizes in both categories, and six winners for prizes of excellence in the Open Category. Out of the 451 tea sets submitted, 100 sets were shortlisted for the semi-final round of the competition, and then for the final round.
Congratulation to Glo and Ryan!