Artist Statement
My work explores the balance between dualities—restraint and freedom, memory and loss, dislocation and belonging—rooted in my migration between China and the U.S. Influenced by Daoist philosophy, I see contradictions not as conflicts but as coexisting forces: a body suspended between languages, cultures, and unresolved belonging. Using hand-building, slip casting, and paper clay, I create fragile yet enduring forms that merge geometric and organic shapes, echoing the tension of structure and chaos. Transferred images and blurred drawings evoke half-remembered conversations, while cracks honor the beauty of imperfection. Through these material dialogues, I preserve fleeting emotions, inviting viewers to reflect on transition, resilience, and impermanence. For me, art is a bridge between inner life and shared understanding—a quiet reminder that to be human is to hold opposing truths at once.
Biography
Renqian Yang is an artist and Associate Professor of Ceramics at SUNY Oswego, NY. She earned her B.F.A. in Ceramics from Sichuan Fine Arts Institute, China (2009), and her M.F.A. from Syracuse University (2014). Her work has been exhibited internationally in the U.S., China, South Korea, and Japan, and in 2024, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London acquired her work for its permanent collection. Yang has presented solo exhibitions, including Folding Time Between Worlds at Tyler Art Gallery (2024), Retrace at Jingdezhen International Studio (2024), Sounds of the Ephemeral at Fou Gallery (2021), and a solo show at the Cayuga Museum of History and Art (2019). Her work has also been featured in major group exhibitions, including NCECA concurrent shows such as Mapping the Multiverse (2024), Contemporary Narratives (2023), and Rivers Connect (2021), as well as international competitions like the Shiwan Cup Emerging Artist Ceramic Sculpture Competition (China, 2023) and the International KOGEI Award in TOYAMA (Japan, 2020). She has participated in artist residencies at Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts (2017, 2023), Craigardan (2018), Jingdezhen International Studio (2018, 2023), and STARworks, NC (2022), each deepening her exploration of ceramics as a medium. Her work was also featured in the Korea-China Ceramic Art Exhibition (South Korea, 2022, 2023), marking 30 years of diplomatic relations between the two nations.
SELECTED NEWS
“Failing Is a Part of Growth, New York-based Artist Renqian Yang”. LiTang, OCTOBER 20, 2022
“Meet Renqian Yang | Artist & Educator.” Shoutout LA, 1 August 2022
Renqian Yang: Sounds of The Ephemeral, 2021, Ceramics Now, March 7th, 2022
Hai, Liang. “A Journey Through Antithesis: On Renqian Yang’s Ceramic Works.” Tussle, 3 May 2021
“Renqian Yang: Sounds of the Ephemeral”. Asia Art Archive, 5 April 2021
Exhibition Review” Rivers Connect Unstoppable Forces in Contemporary” Monthly Ceramic Art June 2021_NCECA(Korean)
“Lan Zhaoxing and Renqian Yang: Between Mountains”. Asian Art Archive, 15 January 2019
Lin, Zi. “Renqian Yang and Her Porcelain Prose”. Tussle Magazine, June 2019
Wang, Sue. “Fou Gallery presents ‘Lan Zhaoxing and Renqian Yang: Between Mountains’ in New York”. CAFA Art Info, 29 January 2019
Wang, Sue. “Renqian Yang’s Solo Exhibition at Cayuga Museum of History and Art.” CAFA Art Info, 28 August 2019
"Fou Gallery announces “Renqian Yang: Complementary Colors” opening on Jan. 14." CAFA Art Info, January 6, 2017
“Abstract Art in Dialogue”, New York Art Series, The China Press(侨报纽约), Jan 31st, 2017
Lin, Zi. "Renqian Yang: Complementary Colors" Artco China(典藏·今艺) (March 2017)
Artist Guide, Renqian Yang “Complementary Colors”, Art.china.cn (艺术中国) March, 13th, 2017
"Urban sprawl#1”, "Urban sprawl#3" Stone Canoe Number 11, January 2017
Yang, Renqian. "Renqian Yang: She Makes Still-life Alive." Interview with Su Muzhe. ZaoWuji, January 2016.
Kostov, Ana Bambic. "Renqian Yang." ArtAscent, Issue 10, December 2014, 8-15.
SELECTED CATALOGUES
“Korea-China Ceramic Art Symposium” catalog, ye’s park ceramics art village, Icheon, South Korea, 2022
“With Roots Deep, Foliage Thrives – 根 深 叶 茂”- A Vision of Chinese Artists in American Academia 2022, Art and Design Exhibition catalog.
Rivers Connect Unstoppable Forces in Contemporary Ceramics, exhibition catalog, Northern Kentucky University, Syracuse University.2021
“International KOGEI Award in TOYAMA 2020” Exhibition catalog, Toyama Prefectural Museum of Art and Design, Toyama Japan, 2021
Renqian Yang: Urban Microcosmos (exhibition brochure). Text by Echo He. New York: Fou Gallery, 2018.