Z. Cecilia Lu
Body Ajar holds new sculpture and ceramics that explore the body as an assemblage of memories, environments, medicines, and desires; as contingent and dynamic; as a site for healing, regeneration, death, and decay. Traces of the body reverberate, meeting the echoes of other incantations — of ancient Chinese cooking vessels and cast jujube dates, cradled by clay and paper pulp, descendents of transformed earth. Body Ajar asks about possibility — and of what becomes through the cracks, holes, fissures, and pores.
The research and planning for this exhibition partially began while Lu was in China at a residency in Jingdezhen and wandering various museums and monuments in Hangzhou, Nanjing, and Xi'an. These travels were made possible by the 2023 Warren MacKenzie Advancement Award through Northern Clay Center.
Opening reception: April 19, 6-8
Artist Event with Vessel Activity:
May 10, 1-4 PM
Raku Firing Event: June 2, 10AM-2PM
Open hours with the artist:
Saturday, May 11 & 25, 1-4PM
Other times by appointment
100 Montessori Pl
Rensselaer, NY
Z. Cecilia Lu is a Chinese-American artist based in New York. Her art practice engages multi-generational and familial histories in the context of mourning and non-western healing practices.
She has commenced solo undertakings/shows at The Soil Factory (Ithaca, NY) and The Herbert F Johnson Museum of Art (Ithaca, NY) and participated in group shows in Upstate NY and NYC. She was artist-in-residence at Monson Arts Center (Monson, ME), Jingdezhen Pottery Workshop (Jingdezhen, China), Woodstock Byrdcliffe (Woodstock, NY), and has received grants from The Northern Clay Center and Cornell University.