About
Hansel Tai is a studio artist based in Tallinn, Estonia. Hansel’s work explores queer and subcultural narratives in the Post-Internet epoch, focusing on themes of body cults, deformation, high gloss metal and fetish objects. Precious materials such as jade and pearls are treated as analogues for skin and body parts, blurring the line between the organic and the ornamental.
Hansel has exhibited internationally, with notable showcases at the Museum of Arts and Design (New York), Het Nieuwe Instituut (Rotterdam), and FRAME 2017 (Munich). Hansel’s accolades include the Enjoia’t MISUI Award (2019), the Galeria Alice Floriano Award (2023), and recognition as a One for the Future honoree by NYC Jewelry Week (2024).
Hansel’s works are part of the permanent collections of Museum Arnhem and CODA Museum in the Netherlands. In addition, Hansel serves as a guest lecturer and critic in the Jewelry + Metalsmithing Department at the Rhode Island School of Design.
Hansel earned a Bachelor's degree in Art Jewelry from the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing in 2016, continued studies at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam, and completed a Master’s degree with distinction (Cum Laude) at the Estonian Academy of Arts in 2019.
Gallery Representation
Galerie Beyond
The Closer Gallery
PLATINA Stockholm
Galeria Alice Floriano
Hansel Tai is a studio artist based in Tallinn, Estonia. Hansel’s work explores queer and subcultural narratives in the Post-Internet epoch, focusing on themes of body cults, deformation, high gloss metal and fetish objects. Precious materials such as jade and pearls are treated as analogues for skin and body parts, blurring the line between the organic and the ornamental.
Hansel has exhibited internationally, with notable showcases at the Museum of Arts and Design (New York), Het Nieuwe Instituut (Rotterdam), and FRAME 2017 (Munich). Hansel’s accolades include the Enjoia’t MISUI Award (2019), the Galeria Alice Floriano Award (2023), and recognition as a One for the Future honoree by NYC Jewelry Week (2024).
Hansel’s works are part of the permanent collections of Museum Arnhem and CODA Museum in the Netherlands. In addition, Hansel serves as a guest lecturer and critic in the Jewelry + Metalsmithing Department at the Rhode Island School of Design.
Hansel earned a Bachelor's degree in Art Jewelry from the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing in 2016, continued studies at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam, and completed a Master’s degree with distinction (Cum Laude) at the Estonian Academy of Arts in 2019.
Gallery Representation
Galerie Beyond
The Closer Gallery
PLATINA Stockholm
Galeria Alice Floriano
Press
THE NINE DRAGON FIRE FURNACE Studio Visit with Hansel Tai
Photo reportage from the duo exhibition 'Dance of Resistance' by Liisa Chrislin Saleh and Hansel Tai at EKA Gallery
Feeling Beyond the Feed: The Sensory Life of Contemporary Jewellery
LIISA CHRISLIN SALEH & HANSEL TAI “DANCE OF RESISTANCE AT EKA GALLERY 1.–24.08.2025
ART AUREA The Summer Issue 2025 / Issue 60
Hansel Tai: Assassination – Voyage to Paradise, Volume 1
Hansel Tai ASSASSINATION – Voyage to Paradise 06.09.-01.10.2024
Hansel Tai näitus „MÕRV - REIS PARADIISI“
Hansel Tai - Discover - New York City Jewelry Week 2024
Metalsmith Magazine. Vol 44, No 1 / 2024
Jewelry x Technology Discussion: Contemporary Jewelry's Response (Makiko Akiyama)
Harper’s BAZAAR Jewelry Interview
Jaanus Samma & Hansel Tai duo exhibition “In Loving Hands: Combining the Past with the Future”
Klimt02 The value of creation and thinking. Interview with Hansel Tai by Xiao Liang
Klimt02 Nude Jade Pierced by Hansel Tai
AFTER PARTY YET TO COME
GEM Z: The Farthest from Earth We’ve Ever Been
i-D VICE These radical artists are screwing with jewellery in 2020
Non-Stick Nostalgia Y2K RETROFUTURISM IN CONTEMPORARY JEWELRY - Museum of Arts and Design (MAD) New York
Current Obsession Issue #7 Beneath Diamondised Skins
ESTONIAN ART 1 2019 Sexting You with All My Heart
Piercing the Divine Body
A. KODANIK ON HANSEL TAI’S EXHIBITION “EDEN OF THE EAST”
Current Obsession Paper for Munich Jewellery Week 2019
Klimt02 HANNA HANSEL
Current Obsession Feature Dirt Container
AUTOR Magazine #4 – The Senses Issue
THE NINE DRAGON FIRE FURNACE Studio Visit with Hansel Tai
Photo reportage from the duo exhibition 'Dance of Resistance' by Liisa Chrislin Saleh and Hansel Tai at EKA Gallery
Feeling Beyond the Feed: The Sensory Life of Contemporary Jewellery
LIISA CHRISLIN SALEH & HANSEL TAI “DANCE OF RESISTANCE AT EKA GALLERY 1.–24.08.2025
ART AUREA The Summer Issue 2025 / Issue 60
Hansel Tai: Assassination – Voyage to Paradise, Volume 1
Hansel Tai ASSASSINATION – Voyage to Paradise 06.09.-01.10.2024
Hansel Tai näitus „MÕRV - REIS PARADIISI“
Hansel Tai - Discover - New York City Jewelry Week 2024
Metalsmith Magazine. Vol 44, No 1 / 2024
Jewelry x Technology Discussion: Contemporary Jewelry's Response (Makiko Akiyama)
Harper’s BAZAAR Jewelry Interview
Jaanus Samma & Hansel Tai duo exhibition “In Loving Hands: Combining the Past with the Future”
Klimt02 The value of creation and thinking. Interview with Hansel Tai by Xiao Liang
Klimt02 Nude Jade Pierced by Hansel Tai
AFTER PARTY YET TO COME
GEM Z: The Farthest from Earth We’ve Ever Been
i-D VICE These radical artists are screwing with jewellery in 2020
Non-Stick Nostalgia Y2K RETROFUTURISM IN CONTEMPORARY JEWELRY - Museum of Arts and Design (MAD) New York
Current Obsession Issue #7 Beneath Diamondised Skins
ESTONIAN ART 1 2019 Sexting You with All My Heart
Piercing the Divine Body
A. KODANIK ON HANSEL TAI’S EXHIBITION “EDEN OF THE EAST”
Current Obsession Paper for Munich Jewellery Week 2019
Klimt02 HANNA HANSEL
Current Obsession Feature Dirt Container
AUTOR Magazine #4 – The Senses Issue
