• Xiugai has dedicated himself to a self-taught practice in eggshell art
• His techniques include openwork, relief, line carving and painting
• He treats fragile eggshells as powerful vessels for his ideas

Based in Suzhou, Xiugai Lai is a representative inheritor of Suzhou eggshell carving, an Intangible Cultural Heritage. Using hen, goose and ostrich eggshells as his primary medium, he inscribes Jiangnan garden windows, auspicious motifs, urban memories and life reflections onto millimetre-thick surfaces. "The true value of handcraft lies beyond technical precision, in time invested and human touch," Xiugai says. His signature work Guardianship, covered in intricately carved feathers on an ostrich egg, meditates on fragility and protection, marking his shift toward contemporary expression. Xiugai founded Eggtopia Space to bring eggshell art into schools and public realms, turning an ordinary egg into a vessel for aesthetics and cultural imagination.