Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | TuneIn | RSS | Click here to join mailing list
Jennifer Ling Datchuk is an artist born in Warren, Ohio and raised in Brooklyn, New York. Her mother came to this country in the early 1970s from China; her father born and raised in Ohio to Russian and Irish immigrant parents. Beyond initial appearances, the layers of her parents’ past and present histories are extremely overwhelming and complicated – a history of conflict she has inherited and a perpetual source for her work. She captures this conflict by exploring the emotive power of domestic objects and rituals that fix, organize, soothe and beautify our lives. Trained in ceramics, the artist works with porcelain and other materials often associated with traditional women’s work, such as textiles and hair, to discuss fragility, beauty, femininity, intersectionality, identity and personal history.
She holds an MFA in Artisanry from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth and a BFA in Crafts from Kent State University. She has received grants from the Artist Foundation of San Antonio, travel grant from Artpace, and the Linda Lighton International Artist Exchange Program. She was awarded a residency through the Blue Star Contemporary Art Museum to conduct her studio practice at the Künstlerhaus Bethanien in Berlin, Germany and has participated in residencies at the Pottery Workshop in Jingdezhen, China, Vermont Studio Center, and the European Ceramic Work Center in the Netherlands. In 2017, she received the Emerging Voices award from the American Craft Council. Recently, she completed a residency and exhibition curated by Dr. Debra Willis for Artpace. She lives in San Antonio, Texas where she maintains a studio and teaching practice.
Originally commissioned and produced by Artpace San Antonio
Photo credit Seale Photography Studios
[…] Jennifer Ling Datchuk lives and works in San Antonio, Texas. In March, she competed a residency and exhibition at Artpace in San Antonio. The exhibition consisted of a large installation of fake red hair and porcelain beads. The work was intended to examine the thresholds we cross – whether women crossing into all-male spaces or persons of color crossing into all-white spaces. She also recently finished a project at Women & Their Work in Austin, Texas, a 40-year-old nonprofit. This work, titled Truth Before Flowers, examined the common narrative taught to all women and the objects of girlhood and womanhood that go along with them. She is now working on a piece titled The Fulfillment Center, based on her familiarity with warehouse stores that draw goods from China. To hear more about her exhibitions, practice and residency, listen to the complete interview. […]
[…] Jennifer Ling Datchuk lives and works in San Antonio, Texas. In March, she competed a residency and exhibition at Artpace in San Antonio. The exhibition consisted of a large installation of fake red hair and porcelain beads. The work was intended to examine the thresholds we cross – whether women crossing into all-male spaces or persons of color crossing into all-white spaces. She also recently finished a project at Women & Their Work in Austin, Texas, a 40-year-old nonprofit. This work, titled Truth Before Flowers, examined the common narrative taught to all women and the objects of girlhood and womanhood that go along with them. She is now working on a piece titled The Fulfillment Center, based on her familiarity with warehouse stores that draw goods from China. To hear more about her exhibitions, practice and residency, listen to the complete interview. […]