Artist Statement

Fertile is a work which explores connections between my ancestors and I, transcending centuries of time and place. Fertility can be synonymous with being fruitful or able to produce something. This piece is representative of inserting a distinctly Chinese, queer identity into history through an ancient vessel shape. The double gourd shape can represent fertility, immortality, and a connection between the Heavens and Earth. This is a way of validating and celebrating queer Chinese identities throughout history and time, while also exploring my personal connection with traditional ideas of motherhood being a queer and gender non conforming person. To be fertile is to be capable of nurturing a new life. Through my work and practice I hope to lovingly nurture the next generation of queer and trans people of color, inspiring them to show up and take up space as they are.

My work explores my identity as a Chinese person who is also queer and gender non-conforming. Being so far removed from my culture and ethnic background, my work aims to honor my ancestors and the lineage I come from while also connecting to other aspects of my personal identity. My ceramic work draws inspiration from traditional Chinese ceramic vessel forms while making them distinctly unique; incorporating my own identity into these ancient forms, and drawing a connection between my ancestry and my intersecting identities. My works also examine and question ideals that have been imposed on East Asian femmes while simultaneously displaying healing and embracing a resistance to these gendered norms. As in my identity and daily life, my work embodies duality, creating a harmony and balance between femininity and masculinity, and between softness and sharpness. 

Biography

I am a Chinese, queer, gender non-conforming (they/she), and neurodivergent multidisciplinary artist, educator, and radical who was born and raised in San Francisco on occupied Ohlone land. The mediums I work in most are ceramics, drawing, and jewelry. I am in the process of attaining my BA in Studio Art and Race and Resistance Studies from San Francisco State University. My work focuses on my sexual and gender identity in relation to my ethnic and cultural identity. I also address themes such as love, resistance, healing, and growth. A lot of my work reflects my intersectional identities while exploring my relationship with femininity.