Stolen Innocence

Sun Yafei

孙亚飞

Production date
2014

Object Detail

Media
ceramic
Measurements
20 pieces, each 35 x 38 cm
3 pieces, each 55.5 cm diameter
Notes
The Stolen Innocence series consists of 23 glazed earthenware plaques, each engraved and painted with a unique and whimsical image such as a one-eyed musician in a cage, tree roots with breasts or eyeballs, dressed headless figures, and a giant mosquito holding a pipe. Inspired by his year-long voluntary teaching experience in a mountain town of Shaanxi Province, the work expresses his misgivings about the motives of some volunteers, and his nostalgia for lost innocence among adults in modern society. Greatly influenced by his father, who significantly contributed to the development of traditional hand engraving ceramic techniques, Sun incorporates his wild imagination in bold experiments that run counter to the craft tradition into this ancient material and its craft skills. Through his innovations in this time consuming and difficult artmaking process, he creates ostensibly effortless and playful looking images that communicate his ideas of the absurdity and pathos of today’s world.
Accession number
2014.107
Artist details