Exhibition in Long Island to showcase work by School of Art and Design MFA grads

The exhibition, titled “Ouroboros,” continues a four-year relationship between Alfred University’s School of Art and Design and Sculpture Space NYC - Center for Ceramic Arts. The Long Island City-based gallery has exhibited the work of Alfred University MFAs in efforts to highlight emerging global directions within the ceramics field.

The 2024 exhibition opens with a reception May 24 from 6 to 8 pm and extends through June 22.

“We are coming off an amazing season of Ceramic MFA thesis exhibitions in the School of Art and Design at Alfred University,” says Alfred University Associate Professor of Ceramic Art Matt Kelleher. “Ouroboros will highlight work from all eight of our 2024 graduates in one space. It's a wonderful opportunity for these recent graduates to show their work to an New York City audience.”

The artists:

Chelsea McMaster, a ceramics artist of Caribbean descent, completed her BA in Art at Millersville University, in Pennsylvania, in 2019 and her MFA in Ceramics from Alfred University in 2024. In 2023 she was awarded the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts (NYCECA) Graduate Student Fellowship and the American Ceramic Circle Research grant. McMaster makes work primarily using coil building and sculpting techniques with low-fire clay and traditional finishes. Her work seeks to find ways to represent her oral culture and traditions through the ceramic process. 

Daeun Lim, a ceramic artist/designer from South Korea, explores in her work the boundaries of functionality. She studied at Ewha Woman's University in Seoul, South Korea, before pursuing an MFA at Alfred University. Her art has been exhibited in Germany, China, South Korea, and the United States, and she has participated in residencies in US, Mexico and South Korea. She was also recognized as an emerging artist in Ceramics Monthly in 2021. Through her work, Daeun invites viewers to reconsider the traditional roles of objects and engage with them in new and unexpected ways through the question, “what can objects do?”

Joël Brodovsky-Adams, a queer ceramicist originally from Winnipeg, Manitoba, employs wheel-thrown forms with highly patterned and decorated surfaces. Brodovsky-Adams took up ceramics in 2013 at a community studio called L’aluminé in Montreal, Quebec where he studied with ceramicists Marko Savard and Jennifer Wicks. He completed a post-bachelors studio certificate at NSCAD University in Halifax, Nova Scotia prior to receiving his MFA in ceramics at Alfred University. He has several exhibition credits throughout Canada and abroad, including a group show at the Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery in Waterloo, Ontario, and a group show at Thrown Contemporary in London, England. He was also the third prize recipient in the AX National Emerging Artist Exhibition in Sussex, New Brunswick.

Julien Tang, a Taiwanese visual artist who holds a BFA and an MA in Crafts and Design, focuses on figurative sculpture, infusing “happenings” into her work through glazing to create scenarios. She has been selected for the 2024 Taiwan Ceramics Biennale, received the Second Award at the 41st Concurs International de Ceràmica de l’Alcora in Spain (2022), the Fifty Award in the 24th International Portrait Competition (2022), and was awarded a scholarship from the American Ceramic Circle.

Liz Vukelich apprenticed with Simon Levin at Mill Creek Pottery, assisted Liz Lurie and Peter Beasecker in Syracuse, NY, and worked at Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts and Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts. She creates ceramic sculpture for ritual, performance, and interaction. Her work has been exhibited locally and nationally. 

Spencer Cheek is a sculptor originally from Boston, MA., working primarily in ceramics. They hold a Bachelor of Fine Art from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and a post-bachelor’s degree from The University of Colorado Boulder.

Emma Kaye is a ceramics artist and educator currently based in the Northeastern United States. She holds a BFA in Art History from Pratt Institute and an MFA in Ceramic Art from Alfred University. She has completed post baccalaureate studies in ceramics at Syracuse University and has been a sponsored participant at Penland and Arrowmont Schools of Craft. In 2019, she was the recipient of Ceramic Monthly's Emerging Artist Award. She has taught and run ceramics classes and workshops for adults and children through non-profits, public schools, and community spaces.

Gabriel John Poucher is a visual artist from northeast Ohio. His current work interrogates the meaning of nature in the Anthropocene through a queer approach to ecological thought, and an investigation of ceramic material. He was a 2022 presenter and exhibitor at the Yuma Arts Symposium and has exhibited sculptural and functional ceramics nationally. He received his BFA in Crafts with a concentration in glass and ceramics from Kent State University in 2017.