Cindy Chao

Chao was born in Taiwan in the 1970s. She is the daughter of a sculptor and a businesswoman. Her grandfather Hsieh Tzu-Nan (simplified Chinese: 谢自南; traditional Chinese: 謝自南; pinyin: Xiè Zìnán) was an architect who designed temples across Taiwan.[1][2] According to Chao, it was her grandfather who inspired her interest in architecture.

Chao learned various techniques and skills of sculpting from her father, which eventually shaped her own style of design[2]. In 2004, Chao established Cindy Chao The Art Jewel and opened its first showroom in Taipei.[3] In 2007, she became the first Taiwanese jewelry artist to take part in a Christie’s New York fine jewelry auction. Her pieces feature classic 18th century artisan techniques of crafting designs in wax known as la cire perdue (Lost-wax casting). Chaos’s pieces are completed using precious metal and gemstones.

Chao’s two collections, Black Label Masterpieces and White Label Collection, have been exhibited at art fairs and institutions around the world including Beijing Today Art Museum, Tokyo Mori Art Museum[4], Biennale des Antiquaires in Paris[3], Masterpiece London[5][6][7][8], and TEFAF Maastricht[9][10]. In 2010, Cindy Chao become one of the first Taiwanese jewelry artists to have one of her designs, an Annual Butterfly, inducted into the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.[11][12][13][14][15]