Buddhist philosophy, for Loretta Yang, is a science of life.

Starting from the Buddhist scripture: "May I, in my future life, when I attain Bodhi, have a body like lapis lazuli, clear and bright both inside and out." Glass creation establishes an Eastern way of thinking, continuing to the Diamond Sutra's "Produce the mind that dwells nowhere." Loretta Yang repeatedly explores the transparent inner space of glass material, its interaction with light, and the possibility of reflecting the Buddhist philosophy of "non-self."

The use of the characteristics of glass, that dreamlike image between the presence and absence of "form," is a reflection on life's unease due to "attachment to the self," and it is also a unique image presented by an Eastern glass artist for the art of glass.

Light yet heavy, vibrant yet clear, hard yet fragile, glass is endowed with a unique soul in Eastern philosophy. The Tang Dynasty poet Bai Juyi said: "Colored clouds easily disperse, and glass is brittle," which vividly depicts the impermanent nature of glass.

Once a household name in the Chinese-speaking world as an actress, Loretta Yang has starred in 124 films and deeply experienced the joys and sorrows, partings and reunions of life. The impermanence of colored glaze and the reflections of Buddhist teachings have become her artistic conviction and solace in life.

All conditioned phenomena are like a dream, an illusion, a bubble, a shadow, like dew, and like a flash of lightning; thus should one contemplate them. ——Diamond Sutra

The representation of bubbles in colored glaze material becomes a fascinating symbol of life, interpreting the philosophical concept from the Diamond Sutra: "All conditioned phenomena are like a dream, an illusion, a bubble, a shadow, like dew, and like a flash of lightning; thus should one contemplate them." Combining the techniques of "lost-wax casting" and "hot casting," Loretta Yang uses a "recasting method" to give the originally realistic Buddha statues a sudden abstract "form." The impermanence of life is so aptly told by colored glaze, an artist spends a lifetime searching for a perfectly precise language of creation, and the impermanence of life is so aptly told by colored glaze.

"Formless But Not Without Form" was first exhibited in 2001 at the Bowers Museum in California, USA, and has become an important creative style of Loretta Yang.
—— Loretta Yang

Pioneer and founder of modern Chinese glass art

Former consultant professor at the Department of Glass Art, Academy of Arts & Design, Tsinghua University, Beijing

Demonstration teaching position at the Glass Art Museum on Noto Peninsula, Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan

Demonstration teaching position at CIRVA Glass Art Center in Marseille, France

Guest lecturer at the Corning Museum of Glass, USA

Loretta Yang, once a renowned film performance artist, brought her accumulated experience and keen observational skills from the performing arts to modern glass art in 1987. By combining the transparent material and techniques of glass sculpture, she presents profound spiritual imagery and philosophical thoughts.

The renowned British curator Andrew Brewerton commented: Loretta Yang integrates the linguistic characteristics of glass art with her personal life experiences, allowing glass art to interpret an Eastern, life-oriented, metaphysical philosophy, which is a unique combination of artistic creation and real life. In 1998, Loretta Yang became the first Chinese glass artist to exhibit at the Victoria and Albert Museum since its establishment in 1857. At the collection ceremony, the director Alan Borg said: "The Victoria Museum only collects the best of the exhibits. Ms. Loretta Yang's lost-wax casting and creative style are fascinating and aspirational. The collection of works by great masters of Chinese art from the distant East in the UK had been interrupted since the Qing Dynasty; Loretta Yang has made it start again."

Today, Loretta Yang has held solo art exhibitions around the world, and her works are collected by major museums globally.

Loretta Yang's "Formless But Not Without Form" series of works,
In 2001, it was first exhibited at the Bowers Museum in the United States;
In 2015, the work "Golden Light Bodhi Wish" was collected by the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris.