FRAGILITY
Yifan Peng
Belgium

This series is inspired by the structure of cicada wings and focuses on the contrast between fragility and strength. I am interested in how light, material, and form can reveal both stability and vulnerability at the same time.
I use smoke to create wing shapes on thin handmade paper. The traces of smoke record the movement of fire and form patterns that cannot be fully controlled. Behind the paper, a metal framework supports the piece. When light passes through, the metal structure becomes visible, creating a balance between solid and transparent elements.
These works are not literal representations of wings but studies of how something delicate can still hold presence. Through this process, I explore how materials can show time, memory, and transformation in a quiet and simple way.

Necklace (Pendant) « Thin as a cicada’s wing », 2025
110 X 55 X 40 (not include the rope) mm / 25 gr
Paper, Brass, Fire Smoke, Rope
Soldering, Polishing, Flame Imprint

Necklace (Pendant) « Cicada Shell », 2025
140 X 55 X 20 (not include the rope) mm / 35.5 gr
Paper, Brass, Fire Smoke, Rope
Soldering, Polishing, Flame Inprint

More « FRAGILITY »

Fragility – Rikke Lunnemann / Denmark

FRAGILITYRikke LunnemannDenmarkHow Much Care Do You Need Today? A five-meter-long bandage gilded with 24ct gold leaf. You can cut into it – a small piece if you need a little, a larger one if the day hurts. It is jewellery, but it refuses to be just jewellery. It...

Fragility – Danni Xu / USA

FRAGILITYDanni XuUnited StatesThis body of work emerges from a personal moment of reckoning—where fragility was not an abstract idea, but a lived, shifting condition I needed to face. These pieces trace the intimate terrain of vulnerability: the quiet, unstable edges...

Fragility – Deganit S. Shocken / Israel

FRAGILITYDeganit S. SchockenIsraelAgonies of Peace Soup Spoon, Pendant Once a vessel of care and nourishment, the soup spoon is here hollowed out, its bowl carved in negative with the word peace in Hebrew, Arabic, and English. Transformed into a pendant, it can no...

Fragility – Victoria Kurasheva / Norway

FRAGILITYVictoria KurashevaNorway This piece reflects the fragility of infancy and the silent fear of motherhood. A transparent infant, cast in glass-like acrylic and filled halfway with blood, connected to the woman’s hand by an invisible bond. The blood is not the...

Fragility – Maud Traon / UK

FRAGILITYMaud TraonUnited KingdomMaud Traon’s jewellery examines the paradox of fragility — the tension between resilience and delicacy. Her sculptural forms, with their molten-like surfaces and embedded fragments, invite us to see beauty not as perfection but as a...

Fragility – Saerom Kong / South Korea

FRAGILITYSaerom KongSouth KoreaRice is small and firm, yet fragile. I was drawn to this contradiction and chose rice as the material for my jewelry. Placed upon metal, the grains transform with time and environment, carrying traces of impermanence, life, and memory....

Fragility – Henrike Altes / Germany

FRAGILITYHenrike AltesGermanyBreathing Lungs. Such a strong organ, with such fragile structures. In some situations, I find it difficult to breathe or my breathing is very fast. It is directly linked to how I feel. In the same way, a deep breath can calm me down....

Fragility – Anna Liu / USA

FRAGILITYAnna LiuUnited StatesIn a small city in Sichuan, China, nestled on the edge of the basin and surrounded by mountains, life unfolded among steep stairs and winding streets. The place once seemed ordinary, yet mornings filled with mist and distant peaks shaped...

Fragility – Eiko Nakahara / Japan

FRAGILITYEiko NakaharaJapanThings we believed would never break often turn out to be fragile, brittle, and weak. We sometimes find beauty in broken objects or ruins. Yet even if we perceive life and beauty in fragile, weak things, witnessing the scenes of frequent...

Fragility – Kamile Staneliene / Lithuania

FRAGILITYKamile StanelieneLithuaniaSometimes in life, we face moments when we feel completely shattered and broken inside. There are times when we manage to stand up on our own and piece ourselves back together after difficult experiences, and other times when we need...