Born in 1980, Chinese artist Danful Yang reinvents traditional Chinese art and craft techniques using modern Western materials to create playful and visually dynamic works.

Her iconic ‘Fake’ armchair is an over-the-top hybrid chair that is an amalgamation of Chinese and western Rococo styles upholstered with fake designer handbags. The creative work is a crosscultural bombardment of visual stimuli, turning imitation into originality and reflecting the onslaught of a globalised consumer culture.

Yang’s porcelain unicorns explore Chinese traditional craftsmanship and philosophy along with references to the Chinese family dynamics, named Girly, Daydream and Glasses. Girly is a porcelain work which incorporates the shapes of four different flowers–orchid, bamboo, chrysanthemum and plum blossom. Traditionally, in Chinese iconography, the grouping of these flowers is called the Four Gentlemen. Each flower represents a specific quality embodied by the model Chinese person; the straightness of the bamboo stem is an indicator of honesty and modesty, the orchard symbolizes elegance and decorum, the chrysanthemum represents moral integrity and the plum blossom embodies resilience, strength of character and steadfastness of ideals.

In Packing Me Softly, Yang explores the overlooked role of packaging, emphasising the protective significance of the box itself. She parallels this negligence with society’s disregard for cleaning personnel despite prioritising city cleanliness. The series involves transforming a taped-up packing box into an object of care and respect through fragile silk hand embroidery.

Devil or Angel transforms the forms of modified porcelain doll figures into visually striking artwork. Delicately balanced within lengthy PVC tubes, these fragmented porcelain figures contrast their typically flawless material, encouraging viewers to appreciate the beauty in imperfection. Yang’s use of these figures prompts contemplation of purity and innocence and the allure of fragmented forms, transcending the somber themes often associated with destruction or violence in busy environments.

An artistic process which is reflective of Danful Yang’s cross-cultural experiences in cosmopolitan Shanghai and abroad. Her works are often playful and incorporate objects and materials in unexpected ways.