From Engineering to Jewellery Art: Xuan Xu’s Cross- Disciplinary Journey
In the work of contemporary jewellery artist Xuan Xu, materials no longer remain within silent boundaries. They are deconstructed and reassembled into structures that fold, rotate, and flow—activating new forms with each movement of the wearer. Xuan Xu's creative path is filled with structural turns and dialogues between materials, treating them not merely as mediums, but as extensions of thought; deconstructing the essence of structure while reshaping the meaning of wearing. She examines the composition of jewellery with the precise logic of an engineer, while reigniting the contemporary expression of jewellery art with the intuition of an artist.
Xuan Xu earned her undergraduate degree from China University of Geosciences (Wuhan), majoring in Materials Science and Engineering. Within this rational system centered on numerical value, proportions, stress, and structure, she built a profound understanding of the properties and applications of materials. She began to seek something more sensorial beyond the material—yearning for a more spiritual form of expression that could connect with the body and emotion. Thus, she chose to cross disciplinary boundaries and entered the Jewellery & Metal programme at the Royal College of Art in the UK, embarking on a new journey centered on materials, structure, and bodily perception—initiating a cross-disciplinary practice from science to art.
This background—from materials science to artistic creation—acts as a form of “reconstruction,” becoming a unique perspective within her work. She is not content with the established paradigms of traditional jewellery materials and forms, but continuously explores the possibilities of new materials, emerging technologies, and kinetic structures in contemporary jewellery. As a result, her work presents a rare kind of tension: a fusion of rationality and emotion, a parallel between technology and aesthetics. Her creative process begins with a keen observation of the materiality of materials, seeking the threshold of materials and the edge of structures through constant experimentation—yet ultimately grounding her work in the interaction between structure, perception, and the body.
Xuan Xu’s works are often highly experimental, focusing not only on the physical properties of materials but also on how they behave within the bodily realm. She is passionate about combining engineering construction logic with the language of jewellery. With the mindset of an engineer, she dissects structure; with the intuition of an artist, she reconstructs expression—seeking to break through the boundaries of traditional jewellery and provide her works with entirely new perceptual pathways.She transforms complex engineering logic into a language that is intimately resonant with the body. In her work, seemingly austere structures conceal warmth; beneath the precise joints and hinges lies a soft sense of perception. Starting from technique, she guides her design through structural thinking and drives her expression through material experimentation—continually pushing the boundaries of contemporary jewellery through multidimensional practice.
The work Deconstruction of Alchemy centers on crystal as the core material. She is fascinated by the slow and intricate formation processes of crystals in nature: with a growth rhythm measured in millennia, they embody the trajectory of material evolution and carry humanity's imagination of eternity and transformation.
Within the specimen-cabinet-like structure she constructs, the crystal is deconstructed into slices representing different stages of growth, forming a spatial visual arrangement that also serves as a material capture of time. Here, the material possesses not only formal beauty but also serves as a narrative vessel—it tells the story of transformation from the formless to the tangible, from chaos to order, reflecting the mysterious logic and philosophical implications of nature’s alchemy. In Xuan Xu’s work, materials consistently bear a spiritual aspiration that transcends their physical properties. Whether through deep contemplation of natural material evolution or the perceptual translation of immaterial elements, she attempts to reconstruct narrative through materials and structures—building a bridge that connects the body and consciousness. It is along this continuous path of inquiry that Instruments of Light came into being, as a further exploration of “immaterial materials.”
Deconstruction of Alchemy
In contrast, Instruments of Light is an experiment with immaterial materials. Influenced by the gloom of winter and seasonal depression, Xuan Xu began to focus on the potential effects of light on the body and emotions. Using jewellery as a medium, she created a perceptual space where the wearer interacts with light. Light is no longer merely a source of illumination, but becomes a material that resonates with the skin and structure. Through movable structures and an interactive wearing experience, jewellery breaks away from its role as a solid object and transforms into a device that triggers sensory extension. By using the transience and immateriality of light to counter the permanence of material, she rethinks the value of jewellery:
Is it about the possession of an object, or the evocation of perception and emotion?
Instruments of Light - Sliding Ring
Instruments of Light has been showcased at several major international exhibitions, including the 2024 ENJOIA’T – CON-X-ION exhibition held in Barcelona, Spain, the Alloy – Crafting New Realities exhibition at the 2024 London Design Festival, and the 4th Slovenian Jewelry Week in 2025. The work, praised for its exquisite use of the immaterial element of “light” and its sensitive response to bodily perception, breaks the traditional notion of jewellery as a static object and has sparked widespread discussion within the field of contemporary jewellery. With Instruments of Light, Xuan Xu received a nomination for the Bright New Gems award and was selected as “Ones to Watch", regarded as one of the most promising emerging creators. Her creative practice not only demonstrates the unique potential of interdisciplinary integration, but also injects new possibilities of technology and critical reflection into the art of jewellery.
Instruments of Light exhibited at 2024 London Design Festival
Xuan Xu continues to place material experimentation at the core of her creative approach, exploring the dynamic relationship between perceptual experience and technological logic. She plans to build upon the Instruments of Light series by further expanding her understanding and application of light as an immaterial material—no longer limiting it to the intuitive form of emission, but instead delving deeply into optical materials themselves and transforming them into mediums of emotion and perception. Her focus lies in how light flows and refracts between the body and space—how it generates psychological responsesand visual illusions through contact, prompting a renewed understanding of perception itself. In her future creations, light will be not only an element but also a method—it will connect structure, body, and environment, becoming an invisible logic of construction. By exploring and reconstructing the deeper mechanisms of materials, she aims to evoke in both wearer and viewer a new experience of the mode of existence, perceptual mechanisms, and emotional states of “things.”
Within the context of contemporary jewellery, Xuan Xu—through her unique engineering perspective—is organically integrating two seemingly parallel fields, forging a personal creative language and opening up a new path of exploration into the possibilities of jewellery.
