Cathy C. Lu: Artist In Residence Exhibition at Gallery 224 – Ceramics Program, Office for the Arts at Harvard, Boston
July 15 – September 20, 2024
Cathy C. Lu, 2023-24 Artist In Residence at the Office for the Arts at Harvard Ceramics Program, makes art that manipulates traditional Chinese art imagery and presentation as a way to explore how experiences of immigration, cultural hybridity, and cultural assimilation become part of American identity.
The sculptures in her current exhibition in the Ceramics Program’s Gallery 224 are a continuation of Lu’s exploration of Chinese mythology, symbols, and rituals as a way to reexamine the unacknowledged contributions of Asian Americans and other historically and systematically oppressed groups in the United States. In Chinese creation mythology, it was the mother goddess Nüwa 女媧who hand sculpted humankind from the earth. In one sculpture, soy sauce pumps through her serpent-like body. Other sculptures are studies of her hands. As the ultimate ceramicist and creator, she is a reminder of our own agency to imagine and create the world as we want it to be. Peaches, symbols of longevity in Chinese culture, are presented as objects of desire and repulsion. Three large peaches exude golden peach pits from their skins; seeds for future worlds. A temple-sized incense burner invites us to seek guidance across time and space in order to transcend our current realities.
About The Ceramics Program, Office for the Arts at Harvard
Known internationally for its leadership in the field, the Ceramics Program provides a creative learning environment for a dynamic mix of students and professionals from Harvard University, greater Boston and international communities. Gallery 224, the program’s exhibition space, showcases the work of emerging and established ceramic artists, academic collaborations, and the talent within our studio community. All programming in Gallery 224 is led by Ceramics Program Director Kathy King.
Contact
darrahbowden@fas.harvard.edu
Gallery 224 – Ceramics Program, Office for the Arts at Harvard
224 Western Ave
Allston, MA 02134
United States
