didi ng wing yin carves wood to evoke textile folds
Pleats Vase No.7 by Hong Kong–born, Helsinki-based artist Didi NG Wing Yin is among the finalists for the 2025 Loewe Craft Prize. Presented by Spazio Nobile and currently on view as part of The Nature of Wood group exhibition, the work combines woodcraft, sculpture, and functional design into a unified expression of surface and material honesty.
The vase is part of the artist’s larger Pleats Collection, which includes benches, chairs, a side table, a screen, and an umbrella holder. Each piece is hand-carved from solid timber, often ash or pine selected from local Finnish sources, and shaped into sculptural furniture pieces that evoke the softness of textile folds. Instead of manipulating the wood through steam or bending, the surface itself becomes the site of transformation. Didi creates the appearance of pleats by carving directly into the material, revealing the inner grain and reversing the wood’s usual outward form.
Didi NG Wing Yin, Pleats Vase No.7, Loewe Craft Prize 2025 | image courtesy Loewe Foundation
the pleats collection: a celebration of wood grain
With the Pleats Collection, artist Didi NG Wing Yin’s inspiration began with the simple observation of the irregular beauty of firewood’s split surface. Drawing from that origin, the works in the Pleats Collection expose the grain that is typically hidden, arranging it outward as a primary visual and tactile element. By brushing and inking the surface, using diluted Indian ink in layers, Didi deepens the contrast and movement within the pleated form.
Despite their apparent fragility, the vessels possess strength and integrity. Thin planks of wood are split, aligned by grain, joined seamlessly, and assembled into hollow forms. The inner walls are hand-carved to reduce weight and enhance translucency, creating a quiet interplay between density and air. What appears light and draped is in fact solid and precise, shaped through sustained physical engagement and acute spatial control.
Didi NG Wing Yin, Pleats Vase No.7, Loewe Craft Prize 2025 | image courtesy Loewe Foundation
traditional methods for contemporary sculpture
Didi NG Wing Yin’s subtractive and manual method of carving requires constant attentiveness to the wood’s resistance and flow. His tools are traditional, but the pleated forms feel contemporary, occupying at the edge of art and design. Rhythmic folds catch the light at varying angles, while brushed grain adds further layers of visual depth. Some surfaces are left nearly raw, while others are gently toned to draw attention to the grain’s curvature.
The result is a visual rhythm that feels alive, each vessel echoing a gesture in mid-motion. The design intelligence lies in the decision to trust the material and allow its subtleties to guide the process. For Didi, this is a meditative dialogue with the wood.
The artist’s background spans East Asian craft tradition and Nordic material sensibility, and his work brings these lineages into conversation. His process embraces ‘naturalness,’ a term he uses to describe the intuitive balance between control and surrender. This tension between hardness and softness is central to the Pleats Collection while each fold carries the trace of its making.
Didi NG Wing Yin, Pleats Vase Collection, 2025 | image © Didi NG Wing Yin
Didi NG Wing Yin, Pleats Vase No.6 (detail), 2025 | image © Didi NG Wing Yin
Didi NG Wing Yin, Pleats Vase No.7 (detail), 2025 | image © Didi NG Wing Yin