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- Faces Face the Fire
May. 2025Stoneware, Glaze
Size varies
This is one of my most treasured works, both personally and artistically. It was among the first face sculptures I created at the beginning of my ceramics career, and it has accompanied me across many places, from Los Angeles to Beijing, then to Japan, where it underwent a two-week wood firing in the anagama kiln in Yamanashi, before returning to Los Angeles and later being shown in New York. Most recently, it was featured in my exhibition Seeing and Being Seen in New York.
This piece marks a pivotal moment in my practice, when I began merging sculptural expression with the vessel form. Beyond its formal significance, it carries deep emotional weight for me. It represents endurance, transformation, and rebirth. The wood firing process was intense and unpredictable, yet this piece survived the fierce flames and emerged with a surface kissed by the kiln god. The glaze, born from the nearly extinct red pine wood of Yamanashi, is truly one of a kind, impossible to replicate, layered with natural ash and color variations that only time, fire, and chance could create.
For me, this work is not only a milestone but also a living record of my journey as an artist. Its survival and beauty embody everything I hope to express through my practice.