Menu
The New Contemporary Art Magazine

Stephanie H. Shih’s Ceramics Pull from the Asian-American Pantry

Stephanie H. Shih's ceramic sculptures reflect on her upbringing as a first-generation Asian-American through “the lens of the Asian-American pantry.” The output ranges from hundreds and hundreds of porcelain dumplings to certain imported sauces and oils. With her work, she's also raised funds for communities across the U.S., from displaces indigenous tribes to hurricane victims.

Stephanie H. Shih’s ceramic sculptures reflect on her upbringing as a first-generation Asian-American through “the lens of the Asian-American pantry.” The output ranges from hundreds and hundreds of porcelain dumplings to certain imported sauces and oils. With her work, she’s also raised funds for communities across the U.S., from displaces indigenous tribes to hurricane victims.

“For firstgeneration Asian Americans, the finite collection of imported grocery brands from our youth has become shorthand for parallel childhoods raised by immigrant parents,” she says. “To meet strangers who have memories of eating the same can of fried dace——a small fish preserved with salted black beans——is to discover a sense of belonging. Replicating these kitchen staples in clay immortalizes both the shared memories and the feeling of finding the nonexistent homeland of Asian America.”

See more of her work on her site.

Meta
Share
Facebook
Reddit
Pinterest
Email
Related Articles
In her new sculptures and digital paintings, Debora Cheyenne helps forge the current evolution of Afrofuturism. Her new show at Barney Savage Gallery, titled “Entre Vues,” offers themes of “post-web racial and Pan-African identity,” in her signature soft hues that are visceral in their sculptured form.
When you think of a work of art, what is it made out of? Clay, paint, pencil? For Chicago based artist Scott Carter, art can be made out of just about anything around him. His latest series of sculptures and furniture pieces are cut out of deconstructed dry wall. Carter's site-specific exhibitions splice up pieces sourced from the gallery's walls, leaving perfectly shaped holes that serve to document his process. One of his most recent installations, for example "Enigma of the Sublime" (2014), reconstructs Neo-classical sculptures that promote commercial building materials as a valuable medium.
Michael Johansson’s massive sculptures simulate the runners, sprues, and parts that comprise model kits through injection molding. The artist's public work, which are bronze and aluminum casts, have a particularly playful quality, whether simulating a "firefighter starter kit" or unassembled parts that would build a domestic living space.

For their first show of 2015, Marcas Contemporary Art features twenty artists whose works evoke a sense of misdirection and uncertainty. As the title suggests, they portray themes of longing, confusion, and instability through both subdued and vibrant pieces, spanning a variety of media. Those featured here include Jaclyn Alderete, Gabe Larson, Ken Garduno, Gosia Casey Gray, N.C. Winders, Gomez Bueno, and Amliv Sotomayer, exhibiting works characteristic of their signature styles.

Subscribe to the Hi-Fructose Mailing List