Blackwork by Jennifer Ling Datchuk

Art League Houston (ALH) is excited to present Blackwork, an exhibition by San Antonio-based multi-discipline artist Jennifer Ling Datchuk whose practice incorporates ceramics, sculpture, photography and installation.

The exhibition features a series of installations made using porcelain, continuing the artist’s ongoing exploration into issues surrounding identity, race, and gender.

The daughter of a Chinese mother and a Russian-Irish father, Datchuk has faced the complexities of being “in-between, an imposter, neither fully Chinese nor Caucasian.” Drawing on sources from both cultures, the work in this exhibition explore the tensions between cultural appropriation and appreciation, and challenge the racial and gendered politics usually associated with hair, and themes related to labor, power, and beauty.

“Most scholars agree that blackwork embroidery originated with the Moors, but was described as “Spanish work” throughout Europe – the African history erased in the hands of white women” says the artist. “Even so, I was drawn to the innocence of embroidery, especially as a traditional pastime for young girls, so different from the pursuits expected of girls in the digital age. Globally, girls still labor to be seen as equals, find their voice, defend their choices, while being endlessly critiqued. And yet, girls are increasingly finding solidarity in younger political and cultural role models, especially those of color”.

“The painstaking, meditative aspect of embroidery reminded me of the slowness of hair growth. Across the world, women and girls grow their hair for money. Different nationalities are prized for their virtues, but the hair dealer I met in China said Chinese hair was the best for wigs because it can mimic any texture or style, and be transformed into any color. We live in a world where identity can be manufactured and appearances appropriated without concern or even awareness. I explore this conflict through my chosen media – porcelain, which nods to my Chinese heritage but also represents “pure” white – the white desire I find in both cultures. I aim to take back that fluidity and use it to explore my own identity as a woman of color—the sense of being in-between, an imposter, neither fully Chinese nor Caucasian. Blackwork, then, is an intersection of labor, innocence, girl power, and white ideals of beauty and industry”.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Jennifer Ling Datchuk is a ceramic sculptor and 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 fabric, embroidery, and floral patterns, to discuss fragility, beauty, femininity, 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 and travel grant from Artpace to research the birthplace of porcelain in Jingdezhen, China.  Recently, she was awarded a residency through the Blue Star Contemporary Art Museum to conduct her studio practice at the Künstlerhaus Bethanien in Berlin, Germany.

Awarded in 2016, a fellowship through the Black Cube Nomadic Museum, which allowed her to create a large site specific installation in Gold Hill, Colorado that explored the historical fiction surrounding the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. Currently residing in San Antonio, Texas, where she maintains a studio, teaching practice and small design line of ceramic objects for the home.

Pictured: Jennifer Ling Datchuk, Formation, 2016, porcelain, plexiglass, 13 x 13 x 5 inches.