EN | CH

Warmth in Beauty: Fou Shop Winter Holiday Market

Market Time: 2021.12.24–26, 11 am–6 pm

Holiday Party: 2021.12.25, 3–6pm (Saturday) 

Location: Fou Gallery, 410 Jefferson Avenue, #1, Brooklyn, New York, NY 11221

Creators:Mona Jewelry, UNISECON, A Sober Swimming Pear, Grannysmilkproductsplant, Ruth Borgenicht, Wenjüe Lu, Chapeau Echo, HCWD Studio, 枝Zhi Floral Design Studio, Atelier F Ceramics

Event Planners:Iris Zhang, Granny Liu

Open to Public

NEW YORK - Fou Shop is pleased to announce the Warmth in Beauty: Fou Shop Winter Holiday Market will take place in the second-floor space of Fou Gallery from December 24th to December 26th. The Winter Market aims to provide a relaxing and warm place for visitors to celebrate the New Year. Visitors can stop by at Fou from 11 am to 6pm. We welcome you to join us on December 25th for the holiday party where the creators and visitors can meet and mingle. 

Warmth in Beauty: Fou Shop Winter Holiday Market will showcase ten creators' original works. These artists are active in the New York metropolitan area. Their works retain the value of art and have functional meanings in daily life. The meaning of art in modern life is reflected in the integration of “aestheticism” and “pragmatism.” As John Dewey states: "Art is not only a tool but also a fundamental form of practice, serving the huge and short experiment of life." Artists' different life experiences and creative inspirations manifest sparks of thinking which lead to  unique artworks.


Mona (Founder, Mona Jewelry) believes that the most beautiful things come from nature. Whenever she goes scuba diving or hiking, her mind becomes clear and calm. In her new collection "Waves" SS2020 - which she will bring to the market - the inspiration she gets from the ocean helps her explore the boundaries of cognition. The ocean provides people with a full and infinite fantasy under the blue surface. Mona uses basic shapes, such as circles and squares, to design complex and meaningful accessories, as superficial and deep as the sea.

Mona Jewelry, The Waves-Big Circle Necklace with Pear; The Waves-Ring; The Waves-Pronged Pearl Ring; The Waves-Small Circle Necklace, 2021. 24ct Gold plated Sterling Silver gorgeous melting circle, varying size. ©Mona Jewelry

Ruth Borgenicht will present two collections. Worn under Medieval armor, chain mail is made of tiny interlocking metal rings designed to protect a body in motion. Inspired by chain mail, She uses its pattern and other woven patterns to create ceramic works that conjure up a sense of permanence and defensive concealment. All her works encourage interaction with the audience.

Ruth Borgenich, Spiral Chain, 2021. Stoneware, 27 x 3.5 inches  ©Ruth Borgenich

To Echo He, the Founder of Chapeau Echo, making hats is a way to dialogue with herself and to connect with other people. She likes making hats according to special occasions, seasons and weather, and she especially likes to make customized hats according to people's stories. The new hats presented in the Winter Market were created during the holiday season of 2021. They are loosely inspired by some songs that portray a sense of nostalgia. Holidays are usually moments for joyous gatherings, yet there are also opportunities to revisit the past. People and things that gradually become blurred over time emerge quietly with the sound of music, and float down on the streets with snowflakes.

Chapeau Echo Studio, Rain or Shine, 2017. Black teardrop fascinator, diamond veiling, grey and golden yarn. ©Chapeau Echo Studio

For Granny, the memories of daily life are creative nourishment. She collects old objects from her friends, discarded items, interesting pieces of paper found on the street, or her teacher's daughter's childhood toys. She is willing to be a subjective mirror during the re-create process, following every clue and bringing together different asteroids. Not actively changing the state or form of the object, she thinks she may more or less, voluntarily or unconsciously, choose to believe everything already existed.

Grannysmilkproductsplant, No.2,  Resin; Found Objects,  2020. 3.5 x 3.5 x 2inches. ©Grannysmilkproductsplant

Michele XiaoyunFan (Founder, Atelier F Ceramics) is a self-taught ceramist based in New York. She studied Photography and Art History in the U.S.A. In 2015, she established her brand Atelier F Ceramics. Her works embody simplicity and grace and carry her hope of bringing some kindness and serendipity to life through clay, a humble material.

Michele Xiaoyun Fan, Emma Wall Vase, 2021. Stoneware, approx. 10x10 inches. ©Xiaoyun Fan

Ye Zi, the founder of 枝Zhi Floral Design Studio, is a flower artist. From color matching to form designing, these dry flower artworks are derived from observing the state of flowers, plants, and nature in winter. She thinks the drying up of plants is not death but another moment of plant beauty—the appreciation of the timeless beauty of plants in their dry state through flower arrangement design is what she wants to pass on.

A Sober Swimming Pear is a group formed by three art students who share the same love for life. Its three members Mingzi, Shan, and Thyan have been close friends for many years. The group has explored different ideas and possibilities about images and ceramic making—pragmatism, interest-oriented, story-based, or just for fun. A Sober Swimming Pear collaborates to make each idea hatch and grow into a quintessential art piece.

A Sober Swimming Pear, House incense holder, 2021. ceramic. ©Mingzi Ma

Wenjüe Lu will bring selected pieces from three collections of different nature: Fafa Bag, first capsule 21/1, and Sashiko Series, as well as the most recent artwork, Fragments of a Bouquet. Taking the forms of shoulder bag, garment, and soft sculpture, these pieces offer an introductory peek into the reflections of the world of Wenjüe Lu. In her design, She tried to garner overdue appreciation for the often overlooked fabric of cotton muslin: to reestablish the emphasis on handcrafts and revitalize historic hand-stitching techniques like Sashiko; to continuously contribute to the everlasting pursuit of tending the planet. Crafted with an exquisite yet cogitated level of precision at each stitch, cut, curve, and corner, the seen and unseen converge together to create a mindfully constructed piece, the beauty of nature and traditional craftsmanship within Wenjüe Lu in its meditated details.

Wenjüe Lu, Sashiko Fish Series, 2021. Cotton, Polyester fiber filling, varying size. ©Wenjüe Lu

Nina will show her UNISECON fall/winter 2021 collection, named "Gravity Begins at Home." Like many artists, this collection was completed at Nina's home during the global pandemic. The constant noise of her child and dog made it impossible for her to work during the day, so she often had to work at night. However, she found her late-night work looked different the next day and, with the help of her meticulous technique, gave her work a unique design language. As the world is in a crisis, home again provides humans with inspiration and energy. UNISECON delivers gratitude and love from her home to yours.

UNISECON AW21, “Gravity Begins At Home”, 2020. Brown Stripe Jacket, Grey Two Tone dress. ©UNISECON

HCWD Studio is a design collection of home goods. Hsin-Chun Wang & Ye Liu will bring Clover Bottle Openers, Eye Toy (with a Christmas Set and a Star Wars Edition), HEX Mirror, Brick Lamps, Note Side Table (White Version), and Tilde Rack to the market. They attempted to bridge the gap between human senses, physics, material, and geometry. The ideas behind these works focuses on looking into the essence of normal subjects, extracting the critical elements from others, and linking them together to create strange yet familiar objects that recompose how we interact with the environment and daily life.

Hyfen/HCWD Studio, Eye Toy, 2014. oak, maple, cherry and walnut solid wood, varying size. ©Hyfen/HCWD Studio