Check Out Feifei Pan’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Feifei Pan.

Hi Feifei, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I have always been inclined toward art and creative expression. I began painting as a young child, and I studied landscape design in college. However, life took me on another path after graduating and for the first few years of my daughter’s life. However, one day when she was in kindergarten, I helped her to finish a paper handcrafting homework assignment, and the experience reignited a kind of creative energy in me.

From then on, I exhausted every source I could find to learn paper handcrafting practices, and I fell in love with quilling art in particular. I became so passionate about this form of expression that I decided to close the restaurant I was running at the time and focus all of my energy on refining my aesthetic and technical approaches. For the next several years, I developed my skills and reputation as a quilling artist, and I eventually focused my craft on larger installation paper sculptures.

After 12 years in the industry, Iris Pan and I created Hana Form as a way to bring this work to a broader audience.

Iris is also an artist with training in experiential design and experience with creative direction, so we work well together to bring sculptures to life.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
One of the most challenging aspects of developing bespoke sculptural projects is merging my own conceptual and aesthetic preferences with those of our clients. Over the years, I have learned how to listen to, and attempt to internalize, their visions and motivations.

It has taken time, but my experiences have led me to feel comfortable balancing my technical and creative sensibilities with the imaginations of the recipients of the work. It is very rewarding, and I think a symbol of our growth when I see our work displayed in so many contexts and hear how impactful the end results are.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
East Asian culture is a deeply rooted aspect of my identity, so I am often drawn toward employing symbols like phoenixes, dragons, and koi, in our work. We have also experimented with naturally derived materials that can work well with paper, such as silk and clay, to create unique and sophisticated approaches to this form of art. Many of our sculptures can feel a bit whimsical or fantastical, and the source of this, I think, is a kind of energy and celebration of nature and life that is woven into the work. I am particularly proud of two 100-foot phoenixes we recently created which employed bamboo as the structural “bones” and vibrant silk for the feathers. We have made many phoenixes in the past, but each interpretation is unique and specific to its context. In this case, we decided to use silk for the feathers for a variety of reasons.

Importantly, silk production is an indelible aspect of my hometown heritage, and silk from the region I grew up in was used to clothe Chinese emperors. These vibrant colors and delicate textures, then, have a historical legacy of expressing vitality, hope, and determination, and I felt that by employing them in these phoenixes, we were participating directly in keeping alive a connection to that history and advancing it into the future in a new form.

What matters most to you?
What I value most is the mindset and space to create every sculpture we make with a kind of spirit; to be creative and intentional.

Cold industrial products seem to be nearly everywhere, and as handcrafting artisans, we try to create every piece of work with emotion and passion. I think people can feel that when they encounter the finished pieces, and it is a big part of what makes each one so special.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.hanaformbespoke.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hanaform/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hanaform
• Other: https://www.etsy.com/shop/HanaForm