We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Suijin Li a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Suijin, thanks for sharing your insights with our community today. Part of your success, no doubt, is due to your work ethic and so we’d love if you could open up about where you got your work ethic from?
From my parents, they taught me all I know about business. My dad was a civil engineer, but had a passion for woodworking. He started his furniture business which became a family business. We all helped in every area of the business, even sales. When you are young you don’t know how valuable these lessons are. I’ve applied them not only to my business but also to my life.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I am an industrial designer and metalsmith. I love experimenting with materials and textures and add them to my household designs and my jewelry. My style is very modern and colorful, one of my favorite things is to come up with a palette for a piece. My household designs are simple but bold in color and my jewelry is modern and minimalist. I also like to work with contrasting textures to give dimension to the design.
Currently I am working on getting ready for the busy holiday season by creating new jewelry designs and adding paintings to the household collection. These paintings come with their own handcrafted wooden frames which connects all the elements and integrates them into one design. Some other details I like to add are unique elements that define my brand, like the painted green screws.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
After I graduated as industrial designer in my country, Venezuela, I came to Raleigh NC and had the opportunity to apprentice in metalsmith and jewelry design with renown designer, Mary Ann Scherr. She was a pioneer in metalsmithing techniques and her knowledge was invaluable. One of the skills I learned from her was curiosity. To always try new things, materials, textures, and techniques.
She also showed me the value in sharing your knowledge, which led me to begin teaching at the NC State University Craft Center in 2019. I felt like it was time for me to share my knowledge and teach people the art of metalsmith. It has been a very satisfying experience to see how people who have never worked with metals can leave my class with a piece that they can wear. I love how proud my students are of their creations. When you make your own designs, they become part of you always.
My advice is to never stop creating, to be curious and always find the possibility in any material or technique. Sometimes I start developing a design and it might take a few tries before it comes together. The design process energizes me and makes even the most trying week more pleasant and fulfilling and I would always recommend that you find time in your day to simply create and experiment.
Alright so to wrap up, who deserves credit for helping you overcome challenges or build some of the essential skills you’ve needed?
While Mary Ann Scherr strongly influenced my work, I must also give a tremendous amount of credit to my family and artist peers. My parents supported me and always encouraged me to continue developing my skills as designer. My husband is always there when I need him and supports my growth. My sister and brother-in-law help me brainstorm. Mentors, fellow metalsmith, and designers, for always being there to bounce ideas off of and share new techniques and provide opportunities to collaborate and experiment. This is beginning to sound like a speech at the Oscars, but I really am blessed to have this network of support. 🙂
Contact Info:
- Website: www.suijinli.com
- Instagram: @suijinlidesigner
- Facebook: @suijinlidesigner
