Fusheng Zhong

MFA Jewelry + Metalsmithing

Within the Archive: Jewelry and the Poetics of Historical Trace

This thesis investigates jewelry as a poetic translator, through which my intense and complex engagement with history is materialized. By reinterpreting the classical Chinese poem Bring the Wine through paper-based materials, I translate poetry infused with personal traces and a distinct stance into wearable objects that embody the weight of history.

four photos of scrolls

Do not allow an empty goblet to face the moon.
Brass, Paper, Wig
Documented by Wenhan Hu

A model wearing scroll-like paper jewelry stands in a dark installation space surrounded by hanging scrolls with ink marks and layered paper textures.

Now we shall be joyous
Brass, Paper, Wig
Documented by Wenhan Hu

A large paper vessel with layered and burned edges sits low on the ground, surrounded by necklaces made from strands of dark hair. The vessel rises upward in sharp folded forms resembling flames made of burnt paper.

Prologue of the Poem
Brass, Paper, Wig
Documented by Wenhan Hu

A model dressed in a red traditional Chinese Tang dynasty robe wears an oversized wine vessel jewelry piece. Looped black braided hair extends outward from the neck area, gradually increasing in scale until it surrounds the large vessel form.

I only wish to be forever drunk and never sober again
Brass, Paper, Wig
Documented by Wenhan Hu

A large paper vessel with layered and burned edges sits low on the ground. The front surface is covered with overlapping fragments of Chinese poetry and textured paper layers, while the back has a smooth outer surface stained with black ink. Necklaces made from strands of dark hair surround the vessel.

Only a drinker can leave his name behind
Paper, Wig,Clay
Documented by Wenhan Hu

A model wearing a red traditional Chinese Tang dynasty robe holds an oversized wine vessel sculpture against the body or lifts it above the head. Black braided hair forms loop around the figure and gradually increase in size from necklace-scale rings to large circular forms surrounding the vessel.

An oversized ear-hanger jewelry piece is suspended from two brass hooks designed to hang from the ears. Braided black hair strands threaded with brass beads connect the hooks to the handle of a large paper mâché wine vessel.

Bring in the wine! The cups must not stop!
Paper, Wig,Clay, Brass
Documented by Wenhan Hu

A model wearing a red traditional Chinese Tang dynasty round-collar robe demonstrates how to wear two oversized ear-hanger jewelry pieces. The model hangs the large ear ornaments from the ears and stands in a static pose.

We must drink three hundred cups all at once
Paper, Wig,Clay, Brass
Documented by Wenhan Hu

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+1 401 454 6100
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Graduate Studies

RISD Seal

Rhode Island School of Design

20 Washington Place
Providence, RI 02913–2784
United States of America

+1 401 454 6100
+1 800 364 RISD