Sculptural Teapots with Junya Shao
Time and Date:  February  7, 8, 9 2025  |  9:30 AM to 4:30 PM
Location: FireSongPaperWish studio | 4327 E Lewis Ave. Phoenix, Az 85008
Workshop Fee:  $400

In this three-day workshop students will learn the ancient techniques for creating Traditional and Contemporary Yixing teapots. Students will be introduced to the history of Yixing techniques through PowerPoint presentations, and demonstrations. Each day students will work in the hand building techniques that developed over 1000 years ago and is still as relevant today as it was then. Students will create two teapots over the three day workshop and some textured tea cups.

Additionally, each day Junya will lead a tea ceremony and discuss the historical and cultural importance of the tea ceremony in ancient and contemporary life.

All supplies will be provided. You are welcome to bring your favorite tools, however we will provide traditional tools for you to work with.

This workshop is open to all levels of experience, from beginner to advanced.  There will be opportunities throughout the three days to work one-on-one with Junya.

A light lunch will be served each day. If you have food allergies or special requirements, be sure to bring what you need for yourself.

About Junya Shao:

Junya Shao is recognized internationally for her meticulous teapots made in the traditional techniques developed in China dating over 1000 years ago. Shao is known for her use with the Zisha clay (Purple clay) which is a natural product found exclusively in Yixing, the Teapot Capital of China.
Trained in the ancient technique of the Song Dynasty, Shao uses traditional tools and slab techniques to transform a thin paddled slab of clay into a perfectly symmetrical form. Her teapots are both sculptural and functional works of art and can be found in collections across the globe.

Working from the foundation, her works are contemporary expressions of her own ideas about color and form. The creations evoke a dialogue between the sensibilities of eastern and western traditions of form. Her teapots emulate objects of nature which invite contemplation during the drinking of tea. The tea ceremony bridges the physical with the philosophical, creating an opportunity to rediscover one’s true self through a connection with nature, original purity and simplicity.

Junya Shao was born in Yixing and began studying Teapots when she was 18 years old. For three years she studied under three masters, each with their own specialty. In 2018 she receive the prestigious China Master of Teapot Certificate, a grueling competition. This is one of many awards she has received in China. Shao attended college for Art and Design in China earning a Masters Degree. In 2000, she began teaching workshops internationally throughout the United States, Europe and China.
Her teapots have been included in exhibitions in the US, China, Germany, Hungry along with leading artists from throughout the world.
Raising her family, dividing herself between her home in Arizona and China, Shao continues to work in her studio, teach, and exhibit her work.

“Junya Shao: Yixing and Beyond.”
By Dr. Glen R. Brown-Professor-Art History of Kansas State University
Since 2000 Shao has spent half of each year in the United States, primarily in Arizona, and has naturally responded to elements that she associates with traditional aspects of Western design. The fact that her teapots are not obvious hybrids of these two sources of inspiration indicates the degree to which her bicultural experiences have attuned her to a sense of design that has, since the latter part of the twentieth century, belonged to a globally ecelectic aesthetic. It also reveals the extent to which we as viewers have become accustomed to that design. Shao’s work feels contemporary not because it forsakes tradition but because it references aspects of disparate traditions to create forms that are at once familiar and innovative. The Yixing aesthetic remains firmly embodied in her work, but like Shao herself, it has significantly expanded its horizons

JUNYA SHAO CV