Explore the Culture of Textile • Bring New Vitality to Tradition

TEXTILE POSSIBILITY


Since 2022, JNBY has embarked on a 5-year initiative to trace traditional craft materials back to where a garment truly begins - deconstructing every weave to reimagine its possibilities and honor the human stories spun into the cloth. It all starts with a single thread, and the hands that guide it.

SHU EMBROIDERY · DIAO JUAN

“Botanical dyeing, in its own subtle way, satisfies my quiet desire to explore the nature of things.”
- Lin Han, Botanical Dye Artisan

What is Shu Embroidery?

As one of China’s Four Great Embroideries, Shu embroidery is famous for its versatile needlework with over 120 traditional stitches. By layering techniques like the gradient Yun stitch, draking subtle light and shadow across the fabric, it captures a delicate ink-wash effect unmatched by other styles.

A Lighter Touch to Tradition

Trained in oil painting, Diao Juan approaches Shu embroidery as a crossover artist. Guided by her fine-arts background, she defines a path uniquely her own: using the needle as her brush, silk as her medium, and embroidery as her method to offer a contemporary reading of ancient craft.

She believes tradition and innovation are not at odds. For her, preserving original techniques keeps history alive, while expressing ancient wisdom through modern art offers a sense of lightness. In her work, every stitch becomes a pure, unburdened expression of aesthetics.

Breaking the Flat Canvas: Embroidering the Orient

Moving away from traditional motifs like pandas or flowers, Diao Juan focuses on abstract Eastern imagery.
Inspired by Suzhou Gardens, she translates the hollowed beauty of Taihu stones into layered stitches. Silver, pink, and purple threads catch the light, revealing shifting views as you move.

Drawn to Ma Yuan’s Water Album, she captures serene and tempestuous waters, translating scholar-painting poetry into fluid embroidery.
Studying the I Ching, she threaded glowing fluorescent yarns through perforated acrylic plates. Suspended in space, Shu embroidery transforms into a 3D light-and-shadow installation.

(Taihu stone rendered in silver, pink, and purple silk threads, glowing brilliantly under light)

Drawn to Ma Yuan’s Water Album, she captures serene and tempestuous waters, translating scholar-painting poetry into fluid embroidery.
Studying the I Ching, she threaded glowing fluorescent yarns through perforated acrylic plates. Suspended in space, Shu embroidery transforms into a 3D light-and-shadow installation.

(Work "Pink Light": Fluorescent thread embroidery shimmering and flowing in a darkened space)

(Work "Kan Zhong Man": Named after the middle line of the Kan hexagram in the I Ching, signifying a complete and full long thread)

From Microscopic Beginnings to Infinite Possibilities

As an educator, Diao Juan revitalizes the traditional Yijin Pattern (Clothing-Brocade Pattern) to make Shu embroidery accessible to modern audiences.

(Experimenting with infinite variations within traditional Yijin Patterns)

Rooted in simple fractal logic and square grids, the Yijin Pattern creates infinite geometric motifs (like Peach Blossom and Longevity brocades). Its modular design effortlessly bridges ancient symbolism with contemporary aesthetics.

(Yijin Pattern experimental swatches: Exploring the charm of changing stitches and geometric shapes within a small square)