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# Project Description Zheming Hu Vivian Zheming Hu Summary Final work College Central Saint Martins Course BA (Hons) Jewellery Design Graduation year 2025 Vivian reinvents the traditional Chinese art of neihua biyanhu – the technique of painting within crystal snuff bottles – through her jewellery creations. Inspired by a diary entry from her visit to the annual Orchid Festival at Kew Gardens, Vivian’s collection blends nature with contemporary design by using carved rock crystal and crystal pigments and embellishing them with precious stones. Each ring, necklace and earring becomes a container of memory, capturing the beauty of the natural world. As Vivian says, “Everything is a container.” Interpretative text by Clementine Mealor-Pritchard , BA (Hons) Culture, Criticism and Curation Final work RED CAMELLIA THAT FELL TO THE GROUND This piece is a smoky quartz ring, shaped like a soft-edged rectangle. Inside the crystal, fallen leaves and soil are delicately painted using fine Chinese mineral pigments. Set on the surface of the ring are delicate red camellia flowers, crafted from rose quartz, alongside small diamonds, appearing as if they are floating in air or frozen in time. One flower rests slightly off-centre, symbolising a quiet fall or gentle descent. The silver shank is smooth and minimal, drawing attention to the imagery within. When worn, it feels as if you are gently lifting the flower from the fallen leaves. The overall feeling is gentle, intimate, and reflective. View Gallery View Gallery View Gallery PALM HOUSE The inner part of this rock crystal ring is painted with fine mineral pigments—deep blue lapis lazuli and warm yellow gamboge—blended to form soft, organic shades of green. The imagery evokes oxidising palm leaves in mid-transition. Set atop the crystal are orange sapphires and diamonds, glinting like dew or fading sunlight. Together, the colours and materials suggest quiet transformation, decay turning to beauty, stillness turning to memory. Research and process A Visual Diary - Kew Garden Using quick sketches and photography, I documented fleeting scenes from my Kew Gardens visit—camellias, clouds, ducks, even the Tube ride—translating impressions into textures, symbols, and colour. Rather than focus on precise representation, I used abstraction to preserve memory atmospherically. These visual notes are the start of turning observed moments into jewellery forms, particularly through the language of inner-painted containers like snuff bottles—where memory, nature, and emotion are quietly enclosed. Share this project Vivian reinvents the traditional Chinese art of neihua biyanhu – the technique of painting within crystal snuff bottles – through her jewellery creations. Inspired by a diary entry from her visit to the annual Orchid Festival at Kew Gardens, Vivian’s collection blends na... A link to this page has been added to your clipboard Browse related work Aesthetics Archives & Collections Craft & Process Nature & Environment
# Links ## Official page - https://ualshowcase.arts.ac.uk/project/641961/cover ## External - https://www.instagram.com/bunnyvivian - mailto:h70226vivi@gmail.com - https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Fualshowcase.arts.ac.uk%2Fproject%2F641961%2Fcover&text=Zheming+Hu - https://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fualshowcase.arts.ac.uk%2Fproject%2F641961%2Fcover&media=https%3A%2F%2Fportfolio-tools.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2025%2F06%2F09152202%2Fbanner2-1.jpg&description=Zheming+Hu