Throwing the whole life into ceramic art research and innovating this work is the backbone of every ceramic artist’s soul. There is an intense sense of growth of the territorial feeling of the land as well as an observation and a deep recollection of the individual’s thoughts involved, from observation to the deep residing memory blending into a personal line of thinking. All of this continues to shape the most touching aspects of life through professional techniques.
In a family which engaged in pottery for four generations, Huang Cheng-nan grew up in Yingge where from a young age while other children were playing normal childish games, he was playing with clay. Hand throwing was his skilled practice for about forty years, and making contact with some of these very high level difficulties, "when you first start out working on the potter’s wheel, the first production is an insulation, that is, it’s a high-voltage insulation line where quality stability is very important." Under this influence, learning Huang Cheng-Nan’s importance placed on the mud as well as its research, there is also his persistence to achieve the foundation of the art of porcelain to uncover the secret to cover a lot of new distance in the field
In the 70’s Taiwan’s businesses developed, Yingge Pottery businesses faced a transformation, Huang Cheng-nan also totally committed himself into hand throwing teapots saying: “I often also have several good friends who mutually investigate, inspired by loving tea and having a distinct understanding about teapots. So, I started transforming the business into hand made ceramic teapot manufacturing.
He set up a studio in 1990, starting with purple sand, hand made ink pots and white mud pot research and development, with special glaze color changes and innovative products for the basis of continuous research. In 2001, with the creation of white mud pots, synchronized with the melon grain series research and development, it took about two years of painstaking efforts, with the melon series creation finally stabilizing.
"Constantly having self demand and a development of personal unknown potential, one can challenge the understanding of ceramics and international research and development of ceramic footsteps." Huang Cheng-Nan learned through the Chinese thin porcelain master Gao Meseng, to never admit defeat individually. This is the immersion into thin shell porcelain research.
In 1999 Huang Cheng-Nan was busy advancing the egg shell thin porcelain testing, and after endless research and countless attempts, he kept experiencing failed tests in his research.
Finally, he discovered a kind of British porcelain clay, known as "Bone china” which is “a bone porcelain teapot appearance with a very elegant color, pure white body with a water glaze, making the teapot look as if it were wrapped in a layer of light like appearing crystal clear.” After many attempts with British bone china, Japanese clay, and New Zealand kaolin clay, the exclusive study of this formula was finally successful in 2007 in making a thickness of 0.5mm for the egg shell thin porcelain. After 2 years, he went one step further to break through into 0.3mm of thickness . In 2010 Huang Cheng-Nan managed to make the thickness of the egg shell porcelain at 0.15mm, breaking the world gold record; then in 2012 the egg shell porcelain made a breakthrough to a half of a strand of hair in thickness, at about 0.05mm. 2010 Huang Cheng-nan managed to attain the thickness of the thin fetal porcelain to 0.15mm, breaking the gold world record; In 2012, the thin fetal porcelain breakthrough was at a human hair’s half thickness, about 0.05mm. He created far more than just a traditional technology of egg shell porcelain products, and combined with national culture and Chinese traditional painting and calligraphy colors to show the highest state of ceramic art ever seen.
"Immersed in the innovation of the Dancing Bowl, Huang Cheng-nan used the softest adherence to his most beautiful work of achievement.” “Sophisticated hand crafted art like egg shell pottery is as thin as a cicada’s wing.” “Unique beauty arises from the raging fire,” he stated, while also being widely praised by the media Huang Cheng-nan spoke on the egg shelled porcelain renowned internationally, but still did not stop the creation of footsteps, 2010, the creation of light pot, hand pinch pot series and in 2011 he created the white mud pot glaze color series.
Constantly exploring the origins of soil, temperatures, time opportunities, “A carefree life with a ceramic career; being carefree for life with a lifetime of ceramic art,”his friend Yang Naihan said, giving him a word that lent to his own opinion, that Huang Cheng-nan was able to use with his mud and an oven as the best interpretation of this beautiful annotation.