Rosie (Ruoxi) Wang

Lives and works in Edinburgh, UK

Artist statement

My practice employs tactile craftsmanship for psychological grounding and cultural commentary. Rooted in illustration, I utilize vibrant chromatic rhythms, humor, and repetitive patterns as therapeutic mechanisms to process personal anxiety and structure internal emotions. Bridging graphic storytelling and three-dimensional clay, my practice acts as a direct response to the continuous tension and anti-stillness of modern industrial culture. By embracing raw, uneven ceramic forms, I reject the rigid perfectionism of mass production, favoring story-led objects that embody organic imperfection to create moments of pause and emotional restoration. My body of work is deeply rooted in botanical exploration, originating at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh through a performance enacting the physical posture of becoming a tree. This experience birthed Staying Still, which translates the bodily posture of motionless growth into vibrantly colored ceramics, visualizing the act of remaining still as a quiet resistance against modern anxiety. Extending this narrative, my series Cactus serves as a direct sequel, repositioning the botanical persona as a cactus submerged in a lake. Inspired by a bare tree in Lochend Park lake, existing in a precarious balance between being submerged and sustained, the work posits a central question: like a drowned cactus underwater, is it surrendering to stillness or fighting for survival? Ultimately blooming with vibrant red flowers, the work serves as...

Artwork