Creating translucency in thick porcelain sculptures is an alchemy of material science and artistic precision. Artists achieve this ethereal effect through three key approaches:

1. Material Alchemy: High-quality porcelain clay with low impurities is essential. Many mix fine kaolin with feldspar to enhance light transmission while maintaining structural integrity.

2. Strategic Thinning: Even in thick pieces, artists carefully graduate thickness—leaving translucent "windows" (2-3mm) in select areas while supporting them with thicker (5-8mm) structural sections.

3. Firing Mastery: A precise bisque firing (900°C) followed by a high-temperature glaze firing (1280-1350°C) vitrifies the clay. The prolonged cooling phase allows crystalline structures to form optimal light-diffusing matrices.

Contemporary artists like Sungho Cho layer colored porcelain slips to create depth-controlled translucency, where light penetrates differently through each stratum. Others employ computer modeling to predict light behavior before sculpting. The magic lies in balancing structural durability with the delicate play of light—a testament to porcelain's unique position between art and science.