VESSEL Coloured Earrings 7

Nephrite Jade; Cold Enamel; Sterling Silver

$27 mm x 27 mm x 25 mm

“The stones tell me where to go.”

Xiaoyu Li’s practice is rooted in a long engagement with contemporary jewellery and fine craft. A central part of her practice is the continuation and transformation of historical craft within a contemporary context.

Her work begins with the stone itself and with close attention to its natural structure. Rather than working from a fixed design, Li responds to the markings, inclusions and internal qualities of each stone, allowing the material to guide her hands. Each work develops independently.

This approach continues in VESSEL, a body of work that explores Li’s ongoing dialogue with stone. Natural markings and inclusions are often treated as flaws within the gemstone trade, but for Li, these features reveal where a stone comes from and connect it to the land that shaped it.

Through VESSEL, Li explores how material can carry ideas of place, culture and identity. Stone becomes a record of land, while craft offers a way of tracing cultural hybridity and transformation. Her work brings these histories together through a contemporary language in which material, culture and geology intersect.

Artist Bio:
Xiaoyu Li is a jewellery artist and maker based in London, specialising in stone carving and gold and silver inlay on hard stone surfaces. She began studying painting in childhood and later moved into jewellery at university. With a focus on jewellery making and contemporary art practice, she completed her MA in Jewellery & Metal at the Royal College of Art in 2023. Li’s work has been featured across internationally recognised media and platforms. She received the Gold Award in the Lapidary & Carving category at the GC&DC Awards in both 2025 and 2026. In 2026, she received the Gem-A Award in support of her gemmological studies, was named a One for the Future Honouree by NYC Jewelry Week, and is currently participating in The Goldsmiths’ Centre’s Spotlighting programme.