We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Joss Liao. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Joss below.

Hi Joss, thanks for joining us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

My most meaningful project will be “A Place to Land / 栖身之地”. As a survivor of domestic violence and sexual assaults, it is meaningful to make space for myself to share my experiences with honesty and tenderness. Inspired by Simone Weil’s writings on rootedness, the title of my project means a search for home and safety within one’s own body. I begun this project in 2020 aiming to investigate trauma through the lens of personal memories. Using glass as a sculptural material, I drew parallel between the qualities of glass and the metaphoric body to represent visceral experiences of violence, intimacy and penetration. Subsequently, I put up a solo exhibition in Providence, RI and exhibited part of my project in New York.

In this project, my research focus was on the consequences of annihilation and the core experience of PTSD (post-trauma stress disorder)—distortion of time resulting from compulsive revisiting and reliving of a past traumatic event. It’s as if time froze at that moment. Such isolation leads to dissociation and results in a common experience in survivors: detachment from livelihood. My works from this project are a memoir of my healing journey: the loneliness, the depression, the pain, the struggles for healing and the hope. This project is the diary of a sexual assault survivor. These works are soft, tender, vulnerable yet provocatively honest. I cherish post-trauma survivorship and I want to make room for discussions on mental illness, trauma and healing in the public discourse.

Joss, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I am a glass artist based in Brooklyn, NY. Born in Guangzhou, China, I spent their life living in Singapore, Shanghai and the US. I hold a BFA from Rhode Island School of Design (2021). As a chronic trauma survivor, Chinese non-binary woman, bilingual writer & multicultural creative, I’m devoted to making space and taking space in the form of art. I’ve received residencies from the Steel Yard (Providence, RI) and Vermont Studio Center (Johnson, VT). My works have been exhibited in galleries in the US, Europe and China.

In 2021, I co-founded a brand called Blumi Jewels to sell handcrafted borosilicate rings. Blumi Jewels is about cheerfulness and embracing uniqueness. Each ring is handmade with care and one of a kind in size, color and design. It’s a celebration of fluidity and queerness, a spectrum of intuitive and fun creations from funky to classy, for all identities. Blumi Jewels has participated in numerous craft fairs including Renegade Craft, Artist & Fleas Williamsburg, RISD craft (2020&2021) and the Steel Yard art market.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I grew up in a non-religious household which values science, elitism and material wealth. Growing up, I learned to trust authorities more than myself and viewed them as more credible for their titles, achievements and experiences. I still think in scientific fields like engineering or computer science, the person having more knowledge has a better chance of finding the best solution. However, I don’t think it’s true in art making.

Being an artist means a singular path devoted to one’s fullest creative self. No matter how stupid, ugly, or chaotic that might be. In this case, I would say trusting authorities more than oneself is the only true obstacle on the path of becoming an artist. In my journey, trusting myself fully and unconditionally is the best thing I’ve learnt. Unlearning trusting others more than myself unlocked my creativity and enabled me to become a fearless artist.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

I think non-creatives struggles to understand how existential and mentally draining a full time creative is. Most see the glory of gallery openings and museum shows and then conclude that an artist’s life is much easier and rewarding than a day to day job. I would say the struggle is different, yet real.

Before I went to art school, I was making art as a hobby to escape from boring schoolworks. There were good times and bad times but overall I was okay. After adopting art making as a daily practice, I spent much more time with myself and making art exposed many of my deepest fears and insecurities. I could no longer run away from my traumas but had to face it in order to keep making art. I could no longer escape and run away but had to sit down, breathe and spend time with myself. My artworks document and mirror my thoughts, feelings as well as the hidden parts of me that I’m too ashamed to share anyone. I had to accept them, live with them, and embrace them. I’ve seen this bravery among my peers and my close artist friends. The strength and concentration that comes out of continuous intensive creative works, I’d say, is the truly rewarding part of being an artist.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://joss.studio
• Instagram: @joss.studio.ig

Image Credits
headshot photo by Chengcheng Zhao