Natural minerals
Rocks are crushed, ground and blended with clay. Each material and mixture brings its own texture.
Materials & craft
From stone to clay, transformed by fire
Chuan Shan Shi combines natural rock minerals and clay with hand building and repeated firings. Mineral textures and kiln colours give each piece a character that cannot be exactly repeated.
Materials & process
A pottery tradition of contemporary Taiwan
In the early 2000s, Taiwanese potters explored a contemporary language rooted in local materials. Rocks exposed after the 1999 earthquake offered an opportunity to study natural minerals and blend them into clay.
Rock-mineral pottery explores ground rock, mineral textures and kiln effects; rock-sand pottery uses grains of sand for a coarser surface. Both draw on Taiwan’s local materials.
The three Chuan Shan Shi makers have studied this tradition for over a decade. Their art names—Li Shi, Qi Shi and Shui Shi—were given by teacher Shoushan, a successor to Gu Chuan Zi.
Fired at 1,230°C
Oxidation and reduction firings explore colour through the meeting of minerals, clay and fire.
Built by hand
Shaped from a ball of clay without a potter’s wheel. The makers estimate two to three days to form a teapot.
Made for daily use
Explore the shape, grip, pour and tea experience for yourself. Sensory impressions vary with the person and brewing method.
CHUAN SHAN SHI
Meet the makers
蔡宜修（離石）
Tsai Yi-Hsiu · Li Shi
Brings a technology-industry perspective to pottery, exploring materials, processes and everyday aesthetics.
賴昱甄（齊石）
Lai Yu-Chen · Qi Shi
Brings the gestures of calligraphy into ceramic forms and textures, in a dialogue with the land.
賴南端（水石）
Lai Nan-Duan · Shui Shi
Works within the rock-mineral pottery tradition alongside Li Shi and Qi Shi.