Artist profile: Jennifer Datchuk bases art on Chinese heritage
Yahoo
Newsvine
Del.icio.us
Facebook
Google
Reddit
Fark
WHO: Jennifer Datchuk, 29
MEDIUM: Ceramics
BEST KNOWN FOR: Pieces related to tenuous family issues. “My work is a lot about family relationships, and it's based on my exposure of race, gender and culture,” Datchuk said.
Datchuk's mother came to the U.S. from China in the '70s. Her father is half Russian. “My mother is the only person in her family not to have an arranged marriage,” Datchuk said.
Some of Datchuk's ceramics include pieces of her family's heritage, such as the plum and chicken foot. Her mother's name, Oi Ling Mui, means sweet plum. “How can I come from something so bitter and so sweet at the same time?” Datchuk asked. The chicken foot is a Chinese delicacy that Datchuk's family likes to eat.
Even the material has a cultural connection. Most scholars believe porcelain originated in China. “I use porcelain because of its connection to Chinese culture,” Datchuk said. The porcelain also has a strong memory, Datchuk said.
And there are no functional bowls or plates for Datchuk. Her work, mostly done in white and pale hues, fuses the delicacy of ceramics with a contemporary twist. “The medium of ceramics has been changing so much that the field is unrecognizable,” she said. The sculptural piece “Left” features a small ceramic house, with a floral design, that teeters on the far edge of a level. The piece “Married” includes handkerchiefs draped off chicken feet, with the cloth dipped in porcelain clay but not fired. Brittle cracks, stained glazes and other scars reveal the tenuousness of relationships. “I'm sensitive to the mars in life,” Datchuk said.
The works, Datchuk said, are not cathartic or ways of releasing pain. Instead, they can be hard to make, or complicated, but everyone can relate. Loving your family unconditionally or through rough times tends to cross many cultures. “You love them no matter what,” Datchuk said.
BACKGROUND: Datchuk received her bachelor's of fine art in ceramics in 2004 from Kent State University in Ohio. She received her master's of fine art in artisanry in 2008 from Dartmouth College in New Hampshire. Since moving to San Antonio roughly a year ago, Datchuk has taught ceramics classes at the Southwest School of Art & Craft.
RECENTLY: Datchuk and four other artists recently opened the shared space of Clamplight Studios in the city's Deco District and hope to have a functioning, working gallery in the space. For that, Datchuk's works won't be anything like her art.
CHECK HER OUT: Datchuk's ceramics will be on view with boyfriend Ryan Takaba's ceramics at Joan Grona Gallery. It's the first exhibit the two have had together. The opening reception will be 6-9 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 1. The exhibition runs through Oct. 31. For more information, call (210) 225-6334 or visit joangronagallery.com.
Emily Messer | 210SA contributor
(2)