There’s a playful fluidity to Virginia Sin’s ceramic creations. In pieces like the Shayd light, for example, clay curves and bends so softly it appears more like fabric than fired earth. “People are surprised it’s ceramic,” Sin shares. “Clay has a strong memory, so you have to be really intentional with how you handle it.” That tension between softness and structure has become a hallmark of her work, though the foundation of her practice began with coils. The form shaped her earliest visual language—exoskeleton structures and open forms like the Prong fruit bowl—before evolving into the slab work and sculptural lighting that define the studio today.
The Field collection is inspired by James Turrell’s light installations
Sin’s own creative path unfolded in a similar way. While studying economics and business management at the University of California, Irvine, she was secretly assembling a portfolio for design school, unsure whether she would have her parents’ support. Eventually, with their approval, she attended ArtCenter College of Design for graphic design before moving to New York to become “a Mad Woman in advertising,” she says.
As she built a career in the advertising industry, ceramics remained a constant side practice, which started gaining momentum in 2007 when she sold her first design, the Porcelain paper plate inspired by the disposable plates that filled family gatherings growing up. The piece became an early breakthrough: It won a Design Within Reach Sustainability Award in 2008, found a home at Eleven Madison Park for years, was acquired by the New-York Historical Society museum for its permanent 21st Century Design Collection, and even made a cameo in the final scene of the 2022 film “The Menu.”
By 2016, Sin was ready to commit to ceramics full time. Today, she runs a 9,000-square-foot Brooklyn, New York studio, where a team of 19 produces everything from tabletop objects to shelving and lighting.
There’s an “appetite for truly handmade products,” she says, and her latest lighting collection, Field, reflects that. Debuted at this year’s International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF), the line is departure from her fluid silhouettes. Inspired by the immersive light installations of James Turrell, the wall sconces explore atmosphere through restraint, pairing a clean square form with 120 possible color and material combinations—a study of how light shifts across surfaces and finishes. “I was swatching around the way an interior designer would, and I saw the infinite possibilities,” she says.
Whether through expressive curves or controlled geometry, Sin’s work returns to the same intention. “Our tagline is ‘delight in your home.’ I love the double entendre of it, but it’s important for our products to feel like they have a soul,” she says. “My mission for the business is to spread warmth and happiness by infusing function and delight into everything we create.”
Field pairs a clean square form with multiple color and material combinations
This article originally appeared in HD’s May/June 2026 issue.