the destroyer > art > Jennifer Ling Datchuk
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My work deals with identity, with the sense of being in-between, an imposter, neither fully Chinese nor Caucasian. I have learned to live with the constant question about my appearance: “What are you?” I change my response depending on my hair, make-up, clothes, what I am doing, where I am at, or what I am eating – who I am at the moment. People are rarely satisfied with my answer. I explore this conflict through porcelain, which nods to my Chinese heritage but also represents the ideological “purity” aligned with whiteness – the white desire I find in both cultures. My focus is the emotive power of domestic objects and rituals that fix, organize, and soothe our lives. I make molds of these objects and cast them to convey evidence of the trace object and describe situations of manufacturing identity. Porcelain allows me to describe dualities, for this material is both fragility and resilience. Bound by these conditions, I stitch together my individual nature, unravel the pressures of conformity, and forever experience pain in search of perfection. :: :: :: Jennifer Ling Datchuk is a ceramic sculptor and artist born in Warren, Ohio and raised in Brooklyn, New York. She holds an MFA in Artisanry from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth and a BFA in Crafts from Kent State University. In 2010, she was awarded a grant from the Artist Foundation of San Antonio and travel grant from Artpace to research the birthplace of porcelain in Jingdezhen, China. Currently residing in San Antonio, Texas, where she maintains a studio, teaching practice and small design line of ceramic objects for the home. |
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| Pluck, Video Performance, 2014, 7:00 (Click image to view.) |
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| Blue and White : Bold Beauty; 11"x14" digital photograph; porcelain; blue and white pattern transfer from Jingdezhen, China; 8"x4"x1.5"; 2014 | |
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| Blue and White : Delicate Diva; 11"x14" digital photograph; porcelain; blue and white pattern transfer from Jingdezhen, China; 8"x4"x1.5"; 2014 | |
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| Blue and White : Elegant Ingenue; 11"x14" digital photograph; porcelain; blue and white pattern transfer from Jingdezhen, China; 8"x4"x1.5"; 2014 | |