Julie & Jesse is an art/design studio established in Hong Kong & Jingdezhen by designer Julie Progin (CH) and artist Jesse Mc Lin (US).
The duo’s practice straddles between the fields of design, craft and art using function as a pretext for visual discourse and ceramic experiments as a method.
Training in art and different disciplines of design allows them to bridge conceptual and emotional narratives with meticulous making technique.
Julie & Jesse’s work manifests research into materials and follows a consistent conceptual path to capture a moment in time and place.
They embrace a unique approach to each project, inspired by its cultural, historic and economic context as well as particular resources available at hand.
From capturing the movement of clay during firing to archiving the break and decay of distressed production moulds the key attributes of their work are time, context and transformation. Julie & Jesse’s projects have been shown at institutions such as M+ Museum, Design Society, the Triennale Di Milano & Chicago Design Museum. Their works are held in private and corporate collections as well as public permanent collections at the China Ceramic Museum in Jingdezhen, China, M+ Museum for Visual Culture, Hong Kong. They also work in close collaboration with international design companies such as COS to create unique installations.
They have kindly invited the RAS to visit their Chai Wan studio and examine their beautiful and extensive ceramic collection. Find out more on their websites www.juliejesse.com and www.latitude22n.com
Company Founders
Julie Progin
Julie was born and raised in Hong Kong by her Swiss parents before heading to Paris to study textile design, and then to New York to explore product design. After a few years working in New York, she came back to her Hong Kong roots in 2008 to launch a ceramic studio with Jesse. Spending most of her life in Hong Kong has not only taught Julie how to perfectly dodge passers-by on the sidewalk, it has also given her a taste for the eclectic, for patchwork and for the bits and pieces that make up this incredible city. She finds inspiration in cultural crossovers to collate and collect the colours and patterns that fuel her thoughts.
Jesse Mc Lin
After a childhood spent exploring the redwoods of Northern California, Jesse ventured out to Kansas City then New York to study art and ceramics. There he met Julie and decided to move to Hong Kong to be closer to the birthplace of porcelain. His strong artistic background, coupled with experience teaching design in New York, have led Jesse to first consider the concept of the pieces he creates. Finding the point where fine art and design meet is what makes Jesse tick – a product must respect its material and the history of its form, while always having something new to say.
Time: RAS Group gathers at 10:20 am; visit starts at 10:30am
Admission: RAS Members $100; Non-members $150
Booking: Please email membership@royalasiaticsociety.org.hk in advance to reserve your place and pay at the door