Layla Yuanxing Lin
Layla Yuanxing Lin is a London-based metal artist whose work is defined by an innovative approach to wire-working. After completing her studies at Central Saint Martins and the Royal College of Art, Layla has focused on developing a distinctive body of work centered around woven wires. Her artistry is deeply rooted in her ongoing exploration of women’s craft traditions which serve as the foundation for her creations.
Surfacing The Crack is a series of hand-woven metal objects, where delicate wires are interlaced, soldered, and forged into form. Strengthened, stretched, and sometimes broken, the fragile material transforms—blurring the boundary between destruction and creation. This work challenges the authority of functional and ornamental objects, particularly the vessel in jewellery and metalwork.
A crack surfaces—a space between the visible and the unseen, where reality and imagination merge. In this fracture, the ghost of a forgotten soul takes form. My practice critiques the illusion of "empowered beauty" by stripping it to its woven skeleton.
Silver, the metal of moonlight, is both humble and noble, fluid yet rigid. Objects define hierarchy and time; they function as ornaments while concealing the burden of beauty. Beneath silver’s surface lies a cruel equation—value assigned, worth measured, a distinction drawn between the noble and the forgotten. Women’s craft, long confined to the domestic sphere, is eclipsed by the "rational" arts of men.
By intertwining hand-woven metal with the precision of silversmithing, I reclaim emotion, irrationality, and fragility—offering a perspective shaped by the hands of a young maker.
Project Gallery
