My first figure sculpture~
2/4/2019
Today is Chinese New Year’s Eve. Living alone in Philly almost made me forget about this until my friends back in Taiwan sent me well wishes for the new year. I asked my mom what she’s going to cook for the big dinner and it suddenly made me really miss home. It was 4 years ago that I last got to spend the new year with them. Another reason why I miss home is that the Taiwan Ceramics Biennale-The Humanistic Return is happening there right now! Showing amazing works from around the world and also featuring Taiwanese artists. They're even including the pieces that inspired me to make ceramics sculpture (particularly, a Japanese artist- Ayumi Shigematsu). I really wish I could see those works in person…
I am doing my best to enjoy the city before this semester ends, and just trying to do things at my own pace and take good care of myself. I’m taking figure sculpture, ceramics materials, advanced ceramics, and a weaving class this semester. I’m just so glad I have a chance to try some new things. Just being in the moment while making and feeling the joy is the most important thing to me right now.
2 weeks ago I attended an artist talk by Antony Gormley. I had some great conversations with some strangers over a few drinks before it started. It’s just a surreal high point of my life while seeing the artist talking about his work Field, which includes over 200,000 clay figures made by various communities and arranged to completely fill a space and look out at the viewers. After watching some more videos about him on youtube, I believe that great work has to start from personal experiences. This is necessary for people to feel the atmosphere and space, and to lead the viewers to ask questions about life.
Last weekend I went to The Clay Studio to listen to their resident artist talk. Each artist did a short presentation and told us what interests them and what experiences that shape their work. They have a very strong community and it takes a lot to form it. I hope I will have the chance to come back to join at some point in my life after I have my MFA. (Which I’m so anxious about right now. I don’t even want to talk about it!)
Professor Charlie Cunningham did a clay sculpture demo of me for Philadelphia CraftNow event.
1/13/2019
I can’t believe that my last semester at Tyler starts tomorrow! I spent my winter break back in Cali and it was mostly sunny and there was a lot of food involved. I ate at least one piece of pie everyday. Pumpkin and Pecan pie are my favorite! Grad school applications took a lot of time (and $). Many of my professors were super helpful and nice enough to write recommendation letters for me during the break. The process took a lot of patience. By the time I sent out all the applications, I had “accidentally” memorized the dimensions of almost all of my pieces. Many of my old friends were sweet enough to let me meet them and share what they’ve been doing. And I tried my best to visit some schools in the area before I flew back to Philly again. No matter where I end up going for my future, I appreciate all the experiences and the kind people I met.
Since many people posted a 2018 reflection on instagram at the end of last year, I figure I would do a much later version, too. It’s better late than never:
In 2018, I learned that life is so unexpected and we have to cherish the people we love while they are still around.
I learned that sometimes even when I try my hardest, I can’t make everyone like me, so it’s better to just be who I am.
I learned that the people who understand, support, and are passionate for what I make are so precious. They are treasures and I hope nobody ever takes them for granted. (And I hope they don't feel that I take them for granted).
I learned that I really hate bugs and wasps. I don’t see any chance that I might change about that fact.
I learned that being a live model is so fun and incredibly awkward at the same time. Though maybe the awkward part would fade away if I got to do it more than one time. And it’s super cool to see my face came out from a big chunk of clay!
I learned that it’s important to take time and relax. It isn't worth it to be stressed out and make experiences unenjoyable.
And I still have so much to learn (about ceramics, art in general, and life). For this year, I am going to try some new mediums and going to push myself to explore Philly and New York before I leave. I’m super excited for a coming artist talk by Antony Gormley at Philadelphia museum of art. And an exhibition of Paula Winokur’s work at The Clay Studio. But I hope I don’t end up loving this city too much and make it so difficult to leave in May.
Professor Liza Masalimova also did a demo of me for Philadelphia CraftNow. And she put a teardrop on it. So moving.
12/8/2018
This semester is almost over! The past few weeks have been crazy and had so many ups and downs. The most important thing is that I tried my best and I learned a lot during the process. That’s good enough for me. I remember I was so frustrated with building something to hold up my pieces for the installation. I felt completely helpless and spent almost 40 bucks for an uber trip to the closest Home Depot. I just started asking people who were working there how to build something, hold it up high in a corner using the drywall and have it be strong enough to hang approximately 50 lbs of stuff from it. After 4 kind, long, but not so productive conversations, finally a lumber and art guy Shawyne showed up and made the uber trip worth it. (I also got something completely useless / wrong items because I just imagined that I probably need those stuff and because I had no idea what kind of drywalls I was dealing with. But obvious I’m not going to spend 40 bucks to go to home depot and return them.) I had no idea that installing the thing could be even more frustrating. I had no experiences using drill and having the piece mounted up so high was just a nightmare. Hands were shaking, palms were sweating, the drill is so heavy…... It ended up that all the holes I drilled are cracked and they don’t line up. So I wasted many of the expensive drywall anchors that I got. After so many days of frustration and feeling unsure, I just could not handle it anymore. I just had to run out of the god damn studio and I just broke down (and kept walking fast because I couldn’t find a spot where there were no people around in the whole building). And the worst part is that day was my birthday and I didn’t want to tell anybody. I just wanted that day to end with some kind of progress. If the thing can’t be hung up then all the small pieces I made throughout the whole semester have to be displayed on the ground… I am just so appreciated that someone was there at that moment and told me “Most of people would already gave up at this point. I know it’s so frustrating. We can do it together tomorrow, just go home and call it a day now. IT’S GOING TO WORK!” And after just two day, the thing is up there and after all that, the things I thought would be difficult to do, suddenly became so easy. Everything went smoothly and there were lots of happy surprise moments during the hanging process. Nothing feel better than to see the images in my head come true after that struggle.
Thank you Carly.
Yesterday I was so lucky to have Alec Smith to document my work. He took so many great shots! I have a camera but I don’t have any other equipment, and the light is very important for capturing my work. I was low on energy and didn't have time to figure these things out myself... I know I can rely on someone professional if I need good photos. During the session, I really appreciated that he gave me some advice about how to make the whole image better and cleaner and he looked out for all those details for me. It’s fun when we were both so excited when we saw awesome shots. He’s just so professional and nice at the same time. I am so impatiently waiting for those big files right now haha.
The studio clean up is next week and I will have some free time after that. I can’t wait to check out the Philly art museum and maybe visit New York again before I head back to Cali and start preparing for my next step.
Testing to see if my teardrop can support someone sitting in it.
11/14/2018
As promised in my last post, you can find my inner demons piece HERE.
Since my last update, the studio Tech Natalie helped me to fired the first couple of my teardrop pieces for my big project. Both teardrops survived the firing and I was just so excited to see them come to life! Thanks to many people’s help! The clay bodies are strong in both tests. I was able to grind them with the tool that we use to clean glaze that has run onto kiln shelves. I was very surprised that I was able to do that! Last weekend I finished building another big teardrop using another clay body. And I just fired some test tiles to see how some glazes will look on this clay body. Fingers Crossed!
There was an awesome event in Philly from 11/1~11/4 called CRAFT NOW. Many of my classmates and I went to our professor Roberto Lugo’s talk, “Pottery Saved My Life”. It was inspiring to see how hard a person can work to overcome difficulties in their life and become an artist who can use their experiences to move others.
Because of the CRAFT NOW event, there were many artists who were in town. We were fortunate to have Ayumi Horie and Nathan Lynch come in to talk at Tyler that week. After Ayumi’s talk, I couldn’t help thinking about why Ayumi Horie, a well known potter, activist artist, and the founder of the Pot in Action instagram feed, does so many things out of passion for this world and for strangers - without pay. It's amazing how much influence one person can make in the community and on the internet. And it's amazing how long an artist or group of artists can sustain a project they are passionate about. During the talk she mentioned that being a maker is full of accidents and surprises. While you are making you have to be fully engaged. I guess being a good human is the same, and I know I still have a long way to go.
In Nathan’s talk, it was interesting to see how different his projects are, and how he brought together people from different fields to make his seabird project happen. They design durable houses for birds and it really moved me to see what humans can do for other creatures through art and science.
I signed up to get a critique session with Nathan Lynch after his talk. He gave me some great ideas and helped me see things from a different point of view. He also showed me some more efficient techniques that he would use to make pieces similar to what I am making. I told him that even though I’m in studio every single day I still feel I don’t make enough. Now I realize that sometimes I make things in a certain way because of some unconscious reason that’s related to my personal experiences. The process is a way for me to meditate and release myself through my fingers on the clay in my hands. It really helps me sleep super deep every night.
I can’t believe the semester is going to finish in a month! I’ll be back to Cali for a few weeks. Hopefully to get to see some old friends and family and man I miss good tacos!!!
I made some planters. Love the flashing effect around the copper glazes.
10/28/2018
Today I went to Parsons School of Design to check out the graduate national portfolio day! I paid for my greyhound tickets online yesterday in case I changed my mind at 6 AM this morning. It’s weird, in Tyler I always hear people talking so casually about visiting NY. Like it’s not a big deal at all. But really it’s just my west coast brain not yet used to it being so close.
I arrived at Parsons about 2 hours early. From my experiences from the other undergraduate portfolio day at Cal Art a year ago, which was like a zoo but with people (A LOT of them) instead of animals. And the lines were super long for most of the schools. But this time was a lot calmer and it was so cool to visit the Parsons building! (I smelled dollar signs everywhere).
I talked to all the schools that I’m interested and get some feedback base on the images I showed. What’s interesting to me is that two people can say totally opposite things about the same image. Like, one person would say: ”It’s better if you can crop out the surrounding area and only show your piece.” Another person from different school said: “I really like that you decided to show the area surrounding the piece in this image. It’s stunning!” or one person would say: “I hope you can show more of your whole body of work and show us your style.” And the other school said: “I think what you showed today looks great and we really appreciate the quality and the ideas of your work”. So I guess I should just follow my instinct and whichever school think I would fit in would be the school for me.
The last time I visited NY was when I just finished my au pair year in Cali. I stayed in NY for 4 days before I flew back to Taiwan. My friend Tracy was kind enough to let me stay in her sweet apartment while she was out of town. And we were able to spend some time together before she left. I walked A LOT in those 4 days and I remember I tried Shake Shack, Halal Guys of course, and a cronut (I'm not sure if they still sell that combination donut / croissant). And I had lamb gyro for dinner every night. I can’t believe it’s already been 5 years and I can't believe how different I am now when comparing to back then.
Many exciting things are happening in Tyler like always. We will have Ayumi Horie and Nathan Lynch this coming week! The department is talking about having a movie night at the plaza one day a week. And there’s a TCC show opening on 10/30! I made a piece for the topic “inner demons”. I will post photos of it when I have better images.
My goal for the rest of time at Tyler: Be a machine and follow my instincts. I revised my project contract and wrote down the new timeline that’s more reasonable but still intense. The wonderful studio tech Natalie helped me to fire the giant kiln last Friday and I believe it will be ready to be opened tomorrow! I can’t wait to see the result. One problem about firing this huge kiln is, the back temperature is much much higher than the front. We tried open the damper during the firing but it didn't seem to help much. The temperature at the back of the kiln can be 2 cones different from the cone packs located and the front peepholes. (cone 8 and cone 6). Well, we tried our best. And we will see tomorrow and figure out what we can do better next time.
9/30/2018
5 weeks in the Tyler have passed already! I am finally working on my own project now. It has taken so much preparation and waiting for some materials and because there’s so much going on. I’m still figuring things out in the studio so everything is taking extra long time for me. But I believe things will speed up soon!
On Sep 13 we had a back to school sale and I was so glad to see some of my mugs going to the people who love chubby babies. (What? I did a series inspired by my nephew's chubby, adorable baby legs) I was in a rush to get those mugs out on the same day of the sale and thanks to a nice graduate student who let me use the small kiln first and Judy who helped that morning to open the kiln (so it’s cooling faster) my mugs made it on time that day! I bought a mug that day as well. It has boobs, a fart and a penis on it but with super cute matte yellow and light green glaze on it. I just love it and I had to buy it.
A few weeks ago we had Adam Chau to give us an artist talk and he meet us individually and gave us feedback for our portfolios. During the artist talk he showed us a graph about manufactured, digital, analog, and handmade art. He is interested in making work that are in the “digital and handmade” category. For example, he would made his own brushes with different materials and put it on a CNC machine and let the computer to do a drawing on a ceramics piece. He has all different kind of results even all the movement are controlled by a computer. It really reminds me of the real world and life, even though now technology is everywhere, we still want that human touch and that can change the our life completely. Adam also gave me some good advice about how to display some of my work and some more good ideas for a potential new series base on my old work. I hope I can make it happen next semester!
The other artist talk that I feel so inspired by was from Sonya Clark. Her idea started from her grandma, Chummy, a talented seamstress (please forgive me if this is not the correct term - I mean no disrespect) who raised her family with that talent. Her work is powerful and speaks for itself. She also said she thinks the work is always better when you bring people in. I found it very true and I feel it’s the kind of art that can make the world better. But it takes courage to do that. Artists can have a lot of power in a way that are not that obvious as they can connect strongly to their intended (or unintended) audience.
Another big stepping stone for me in the last few weeks was - I made my first two-part mold! Professor Carly Slade let me sit in her mold making class to see her demo and with some help from a wonderful classmate that same day I made my first mold! It’s like MAGIC! It’s kind of a similar feeling to when I did printmaking. The second when I see the print after all the work is indescribable. But when I did the first half part of the mold I forgot to leave the opening for the pouring hole. Hopefully it will still work (fingers crossed!).
I’m a little homesick and I still always take the wrong subway (omg it sucks!), but I am also just so grateful that I can make work in this amazing studio. I don’t want to waste my time (and rent) while I’m in this city with a great ceramics community. However I also got reinforcement that I’m an introvert and I usually don’t start a conversation because I don’t want to bother or interrupt anyone’s thinking/making process. I also don’t really want to be the kind of person who always talk about themselves or their own work. I'm doing this to connect with others, not to focus on myself, right? I just hope my work can speak for itself and I don’t need to say too much. I often consider myself a worker and I’m just the working hands to let the pieces come to life and speak for themselves. I hope the pieces that go through my hands connect with others as much as they connect with me.
Chubby baby legs mugs right before I put them in the kiln and fired to cone 018.
9/9/2018
I’ve been living in Philly for 2 weeks and It still feels so unreal. I remember the first few days were super crazy. And the few days before my flight I was just simply in a panic and all my close friends got SOS messages from me. And every single one of them told me that I will be okay. (Thank you Michelle for being so supportive and believing in me!) My friend Elin said: “If it isn’t a bit scary it’s not worth it.” I have to agree with her. After my husband and I arrived in Philly we were running around in town trying to get all the essentials and fix stuff in the apartment. My husband Clay is my superhero at this point. Now the place is much better after I unpacked everything from suitcases and cleaned the whole place. I don’t know when I will start to call it my home yet, but now it’s definitely a place I can feel relaxed after I spent a day in the studio. Thanks Rachel again for finding this place for me.
Tyler school of art is a cool place. Last friday we had a Ceramics department potluck BBQ. Graduate students and new(er) faculties gave artist talks. It’s just great to know what everybody is working on and what they are passionate about and what awesome pieces they’ve made to get to where they are now. This event was started by the student group Tyler Ceramics Collective and they are doing so many things to let people who love ceramics participate and have more opportunities. Next week we will have a sale and I can’t wait to see everyone’s creations. I am still working on my mugs but I am not sure if I can meet the deadline. I am going to try decal for my first time which will require one more firing after the glaze firing. (YES! we have TWO decal printers here! Food safe and non-food safe. It’s like a dream come true.) I will post images once they're finished. As a Post-Bacc student here, I am in the Roberto Lugo’s advanced ceramics class with senior students and have a working space in the major studio and a shelf. Rob is very welcoming and supportive. For advanced class, each person has to write a proposal about what we want to make this semester and set the timeline for our projects. And we all have to update that in the middle of the project. I’m also in Natalie's crash class, it’s a class designed for students from other majors and the instructor would help each student to reach their goal in making ceramics. I just love to see how many different approaches people have from outside of the ceramics circle and how that connects with their backgrounds.
I am super excited for the project that I want to make this semester. But I need to run some tests first ASAP to make sure it will work. I can’t wait to see them come to life! (Or not. Either way I will have a great, hard-earned lesson.)
Michelle I LOVE the coral scarf that you made for me so much I had to bring it with me to Philly!
8/9/2018
I can’t believe that I’ve been back to California from Cub Creek Foundation for a couple weeks. It was a great first ceramics residency experience for me. I met the legendary John Jessiman and his generous art collector and educator friend Randy Edmonson, Randy’s talented and lovely wife Cricket, the awesome studio assistant and a great team leader Ian, and the other talented fellow resident Elizabeth, Rachel and Casey. I felt I learned more than just about ceramics during the time there. It’s really an eye opener about what people decide to live for and how to make it work with the people you like to spend time with. Wood firing is a lot of work and you really can’t do it alone. We did a wood plus soda firing on July 17 and it took around 30 hours in a small chamber which is used to do salt firing. I really love the reaction that occurs on the unglazed native dark clay and some shino and ash glazes.
As a resident, each person got a pretty big studio space with a pottery wheel and dedicated shelves. There are total 7 space in the open plan, huge studio and there is also a kitchen, lunch area and a restroom. Everyone takes turns to clean the common area. There is a slab-roller and an extruder available in the studio as well. Each resident also has a private room in a house nearby. The house has 6 rooms and 2 baths, 2 kitchens. Also a common room with a TV room for watching dvds or playing board games. John, the director, gives each resident a Cub Creek Handbook and besides all the tried-and-true clay bodies and glazes recipes, there are also some heartfelt insights about what is ceramics art and about being an artist. John tries his best to do a full gathering dinner with everyone each week to go over glaze test tiles results, wood firing process, or materials. It’s amazing how much we can talk about ceramics. He is a great cook and I always ate more than I should. Residents sometimes bring wine or desserts for everybody if they feel like it. Usually after the meal we would watch some videos of throwing demo or documentary of a community woodfiring. There’s also a documentary dvd about how they built a wood kiln at cub creek about 5 years ago, totally worth watching.
I felt I was in shocked all the time when I was at cub creek because it’s just like a different world to me. But I guess it’s the reason why people do residency- to get out of your comfort zone and your usual everyday routine then see where the experience takes you. It’s a very different lifestyle compare to my previous ceramics studio experience. It’s like an island. I don’t really drive and there was no public transportation, so I had to rely on other people to give me a ride to go grocery shopping about once a week. And it’s like 20 mins away by car. John has about a hundred acres and it’s really out in the countryside. I covered myself up as much as possible everyday even it’s super hot and humid climate (ex: my fave green hat, oversized denim jacket over long sleeves button-down shirt and jeans), just because I wanted to protect myself from being run into by many many bugs on the way to the studio and on my way back to the house. But it’s really just me being over sensitive about bugs, other resident seemed to be doing fine and are not as bothered by it. I made a cup and carved “VIRGINIA IS FOR BUGS LOVERS” (In case you don’t know, “Virginia is for lovers” is a tourism slogan) on it to make fun of my frustration with the whole bug situation. I also used the teardrop shape to developed a series of works about saying goodbye to the people we care about. The pieces include both sculptural and functional work. It’s quite a transition time for me at this point. I knew I had to do something to record this personal experience for myself and not just sit around feeling down about it. Now to look back, I’m glad that I did this series.
I appreciated the opportunity of meeting those wonderful people and feeling the support from a group who shares the same interests and are serious about making it a career. It’s not easy like how people imagine how the artist's’ life can be like. But I believe that being honest to ourselves is the key to every life decision, and it actually always make ourselves feel better.
8/9/2018
I can’t believe that I’ve been back to California from Cub Creek Foundation for a couple weeks. It was a great first ceramics residency experience for me. I met the legendary John Jessiman and his generous art collector and educator friend Randy Edmonson, Randy’s talented and lovely wife Cricket, the awesome studio assistant and a great team leader Ian, and the other talented fellow resident Elizabeth, Rachel and Casey. I felt I learned more than just about ceramics during the time there. It’s really an eye opener about what people decide to live for and how to make it work with the people you like to spend time with. Wood firing is a lot of work and you really can’t do it alone. We did a wood plus soda firing on July 17 and it took around 30 hours in a small chamber which is used to do salt firing. I really love the reaction that occurs on the unglazed native dark clay and some shino and ash glazes.
As a resident, each person got a pretty big studio space with a pottery wheel and dedicated shelves. There are total 7 space in the open plan, huge studio and there is also a kitchen, lunch area and a restroom. Everyone takes turns to clean the common area. There is a slab-roller and an extruder available in the studio as well. Each resident also has a private room in a house nearby. The house has 6 rooms and 2 baths, 2 kitchens. Also a common room with a TV room for watching dvds or playing board games. John, the director, gives each resident a Cub Creek Handbook and besides all the tried-and-true clay bodies and glazes recipes, there are also some heartfelt insights about what is ceramics art and about being an artist. John tries his best to do a full gathering dinner with everyone each week to go over glaze test tiles results, wood firing process, or materials. It’s amazing how much we can talk about ceramics. He is a great cook and I always ate more than I should. Residents sometimes bring wine or desserts for everybody if they feel like it. Usually after the meal we would watch some videos of throwing demo or documentary of a community woodfiring. There’s also a documentary dvd about how they built a wood kiln at cub creek about 5 years ago, totally worth watching.
I felt I was in shocked all the time when I was at cub creek because it’s just like a different world to me. But I guess it’s the reason why people do residency- to get out of your comfort zone and your usual everyday routine then see where the experience takes you. It’s a very different lifestyle compare to my previous ceramics studio experience. It’s like an island. I don’t really drive and there was no public transportation, so I had to rely on other people to give me a ride to go grocery shopping about once a week. And it’s like 20 mins away by car. John has about a hundred acres and it’s really out in the countryside. I covered myself up as much as possible everyday even it’s super hot and humid climate (ex: my fave green hat, oversized denim jacket over long sleeves button-down shirt and jeans), just because I wanted to protect myself from being run into by many many bugs on the way to the studio and on my way back to the house. But it’s really just me being over sensitive about bugs, other resident seemed to be doing fine and are not as bothered by it. I made a cup and carved “VIRGINIA IS FOR BUGS LOVERS” (In case you don’t know, “Virginia is for lovers” is a tourism slogan) on it to make fun of my frustration with the whole bug situation. I also used the teardrop shape to developed a series of works about saying goodbye to the people we care about. The pieces include both sculptural and functional work. It’s quite a transition time for me at this point. I knew I had to do something to record this personal experience for myself and not just sit around feeling down about it. Now to look back, I’m glad that I did this series.
I appreciated the opportunity of meeting those wonderful people and feeling the support from a group who shares the same interests and are serious about making it a career. It’s not easy like how people imagine how the artist's’ life can be like. But I believe that being honest to ourselves is the key to every life decision, and it actually always make ourselves feel better.