The Next Irascibles: Julia Chiang

Julia Chiang's delicate sculptural pieces and installations carry an inner strength reminiscent of works by Ghada Amer, Eva Hesse and Yayoi Kusama. They are obsessive, intrinsically feminine and at times unabashedly sentimental -- forgiveness and letting-go are recurring themes -- without asking for pity or sympathy. Chiang, now 31, moved from New Jersey to New York City in 1996 to attend NYU. As a restless teen not knowing exactly what she wanted to study or become, she soon found her niche in the ceramics department and gravitated to scenes outside of school. "I really didn't have much of a social life there," recalls Chiang, who skateboarded and held an after-school job at Blades on Broadway. "It's not that I was trying to be anti-social. I was hanging out with people older than I was, and I felt like school was getting in the way of me living my life." So she finished school in three and a half years and went to Beijing for a three-month residency, the first in a string of many artist residencies for Chiang -- who never saw the academic environment as her comfort zone.

[top] "Forever and Ever," 2005; [bottom, l-r] "Again and Again," 2007; "Til Death Do Us Apart," 2008

Aside from clay, Chiang uses a variety of different materials, from vintage handkerchiefs to china and candy, as well as found objects. For her first big show, a collaboration with Ryan McGinness titled "Dream Garden" at Deitch Projects in 2002, she filled the room facing Grand Street with real dirt and grass; and in 2007, a wall of "i love you"-etched vintage mirrors lined the windows of Kantor/Feuer gallery. In customary, bittersweet Chiang style, at the end of her last residency at Anderson Ranch Arts Center in Colorado this year, she hand-stitched the word "goodbye" onto a box full of dry leaves. Still, her ceramic work is where she puts her most intimate touch, and her distinctive "My Rotten Apples" -- handmade porcelain apples coated with gold dust ($200 each) -- are sold at the New Museum's store. "Most of what I do reveals the unevenness and imperfection of my hand," she says. "I am interested more in what are viewed as flaws rather than perfection, and in finding objects and materials that hold a story and history." Chiang is preparing for a group show in London this fall and organizing a series of low-key "ceramic nights" at her studio.
Carol Lee

[top] "Never Would Be Too Soon," 2009

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