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Jacqueline Wei | Episode 1240
Jacqueline Wei is a Los Angeles–based architect and part time ceramicist. Jacqueline established Wei.ware in 2018 as an extension of her architectural voice. Influenced by brutalism, Jacqueline’s ceramic work explores structure and sensory experience through intentional studies of form, scale, and texture, translating architectural ideas into tactile objects.
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With brutalism as your interpretation and taking that architectural form and bringing it to ceramics, is there room for delicacy, for making it delicate?
Yeah, definitely possible. But I think that would be my, I think that would be like a site series, not as my regular collection, because Briolas is, something thick, thick edges or something a little bit more substantial. And delicate items, definitely, I would really like to explore more of the softer side of my design ability. Yeah, I can see that. Societies.
Does the firing method affect the brutalist feel like wood or soda versus electric?
Oh, I definitely I don’t have enough knowledge with soda firing or wood firing. But I would see that the, you know, the fire marks or You know, I think that could work well with the idea earlier I was saying with the water stain on the building. And then, yeah, so then if I play with fire, wood firing, maybe I could play with watermarks or any like debris marks and then that could make it even more brutal look. Definitely.
Even the word brutal, It’s very imposing. Is there room in your brutalist ceramic approach for the feeling of warmth and the human touch?
So I definitely see that because I, all these objects, they’re all meant to be touched. And you could see that I like to make teapots, I like to make handles. They’re all very specific design because I would like the users, I would like to attract people to actually touch it and interact with the handles, interact with a spout and something. Yeah, it’s definitely very intentional that is inviting people to touch.
Do you feel like the style could still lend itself to a timelessness?
I don’t think so, even though it will, yeah, I think because brutalism is been 80 years now since it started. I would think that I think realism is timeless. That I think forms, I think if you’re expressing forms and then I’m not chasing after new materials and then I have this, it’s just human center in mind, I think, I don’t think it’s timeless.
You even mentioned something about there needs to be a strong boldness to the form and the structure. Does that mean that the piece would ultimately be heavy?
Not quite. I think the weight is more visual and I think I still want comfort. for the user. So I don’t want anything that’s like way too heavy that I cannot lift a mug. But I think visual weight is important. And but then the actual weight is has to be more ergonomic
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Instagram: @wei.ware