Exhibition | Eva Kwong’s Atomic Bacteria and Polka-dotted Pentapods

CINCINNATI, Ohio — Eva Kwong’s collection of writhing  bacteria, stoic pentapods and nubbly flora are featured in her exhibition Love Between The Atoms at Carl Solway Gallery (Cincinnati, February 3 – April 29, 2017).

Eva Kwong’s exhibition of ceramics will include free-standing sculpture and sculptural wall installations made from many elements referencing biological sources such as bacteria, diatoms and cells.

Above image: Eva Kwong, Floating World: Bacteria, Diatoms and Cell Series, 73 parts, 1980s-2016, Stoneware, colored slips, underglazes, glazes, Dimensions variable, Photograph by Cal Kowal.

Her title, Love Between the Atoms, refers to the attraction between the protons and the electrons in an atom.

“I see this attractive force as something that bonds us all together in this world. It is this attractive force which forms bonds at the subatomic level that makes things work in the physical world that we experience. It is this attractive force that enables us to build forms with clay and to draw people together and build relationships with each other. In many ways, mutual attraction of one form or another is what enables us to connect and create interactions on microcosmic as well as macrocosmic levels, from the physical to the emotional.”

Kwong says her work draws upon her experience growing up in two different cultures, which fostered her interest in opposing perceptions and intertwining of dualities.

“I am interested in the interconnection of the myriad of layers in the world, from microcosm to macrocosm. Maybe it is because I grew up with both eastern and western cultures. I was brought up with the traditional Chinese concept of yin and yang that underlies all life forms and energies. Growing up in Hong Kong and New York, I learned to look at everything through the lens of both cultures…I am interested in the juxtaposition of mass/space, land/air, solid/hollow, male and female forms. I feel I am a hybrid hovering between opposites.”

Kwong’s exhibition is featured alongside two other solo exhibitions: Catherine Richards’ Capricious Alignment and Holder Asgeirsdottir Jonsson’s Based on a Photograph. Working in very different mediums, each artist profoundly interprets observations of the natural world and the culture we live in.

Eva Kwong’s work is included in numerous collections internationally including the Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, Ohio; the Cleveland Clinic, the Cranbrook Museum of Art, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan; Finnish Craft Museum, Helsinki, Finland; Janet Mansfield Collection, Mansfield Ceramics, Gulgong, Australia; Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minnesota; Shigaraki Park Ceramic Museum, Shigaraki, Japan and Fule International Ceramic Art Museums, Fuping, China.  Her awards include five fellowships from the Ohio Arts Council and two fellowships from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. She is currently participating in a 2017 McKnight Artist Residency for Ceramic Artists at the Northern Clay Center in Minneapolis.

Text (edited) from Carl Solway Gallery.

Be sure to check out Cfile’s previous spotlights on Eva Kwong.

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