Gao Jianfang （高建芳）
Jiangsu Provincial Master of Ceramic Art (First Session, 2011)
Jiangsu Provincial Master of Arts and Crafts (Fifth Session, 2011)
Senior Industrial Artist
Guest Professor and Master’s Supervisor at Jiangnan University
Member of the China Industrial Design Association
Member of the China Ceramic Industry Association
Council Member of Jiangsu Ceramic Art Committee
Born in 1956 in Yixing, Jiangsu, Gao Jianfang began learning the art of Zisha (purple clay) pottery from her mother at an early age. In 1973, she joined the Jiangsu Yixing Zisha Pottery Factory, where she studied pot-making techniques under the guidance of teachers Shu Fengying and Gao Hongying. In 1978, she became the first formal apprentice of renowned Chinese Arts and Crafts Master Jiang Rong and began working at the Research Institute of the Jiangsu Yixing Zisha Pottery Factory.
To further refine her skills, she pursued advanced studies at the Central Academy of Arts and Design (now the Academy of Arts & Design, Tsinghua University) in 1983 and 1989, specializing in ceramic modeling and design. Under the mentorship of distinguished professors such as Han Meilin, Yang Yongshan, and Zhang Shouzhi, her artistic vision and creativity reached new heights.
In the realm of Zisha sculptural ware, particularly in naturalistic forms, Gao has carried forward the bionic style pioneered by the Qing Dynasty master Chen Mingyuan, establishing herself as a leading contemporary inheritor of Zisha figurative and sculptural art. Over her four-decade career, she has created more than 100 works across six major series, including floral and fruit-and-vegetable themes, earning her recognition within the industry as the foremost inheritor of figurative Zisha teapot art.
