The twocities art gallery represents Chinese artists pioneering in glass, metal, jewelry, ceramic, and wood and lacquer. It has only been in the last 50 years that casting glass has matured into an expressive and respected medium in the arts. Through form, texture and color, the artist is able to utilize light to stunning effect expressing ideas and feelings with delicacy and subtlety. Great skill and control are required to master the medium, and though working in glass is exacting, much is left up to chance. The kiln always has its say with every piece of glass that enters its fiery chamber. The combination of skill and chance provides the artist with a restrained yet vibrant means of expression. Working with clay is an intensely expressive form of art. The intimate connection between the artist and the work comes from the direct contact with the material. Unlike other media, the artist’s hands are the primary tools used to shape and form the end product. The artistic expression that flows from this harmonious connection is only realized when combined with a mastery of the technical side of the process. The challenge for the ceramic artist is to indwell the craft so that the art can come through unhindered. The roots of modern artistic expressions in metal reach deep into Chinese culture, and metal continues to be a medium in which culture is questioned and recorded. Though used since antiquity it communicates a strong sense of modernity. In part this is because the artist can achieve sharp angles and rigid structures that are not possible with other media. Geometric patterns are expressed wonderfully in metal. This fusion of modernity and antiquity seemingly presents the artist with contradictions: the challenge is to incorporate traditional techniques while exploring modern concepts and to evoke images of nature and warmth with a naturally cold and industrial media. Today along with bronze, silver, gold, copper and steel are used in this art form. Adorning the human body is one of the earliest expressions of culture. Unlike most three-dimensional art forms, such as glass and metal, jewelry is defined not by the material used in the work but by its function. With the development of glass and metal in the mid-1800s, jewelry artists began to communicate ideas in their work, elevating artistic expression above the function of adornment. Where once artisans primarily worked with gold, silver and precious stones, materials selected for their beauty, today’s artists face no limitation in materials, utilizing paper, cloth, paint and much more. The Chinese have been using lacquer as an art form since antiquity to decorate and strengthen vessels, furniture and even weapons. There is an ancient saying about creating works of wood and lacquer: “hundreds of hands for one scroll, ten thousands for one screen.” Through the years, wood and lacquer art has been carried overseas to Korea, Japan and Vietnam to create a unique Asian wood and lacquer culture. In today’s mass-produced industrial environment, many traditions and deep-seeded values are slowly vanishing. Wood and lacquer as an art form faces this great challenge, but its meticulous process and rich cultural significance also has the potential to transform and translate modern sensibilities and themes.