The Randall Chair was established in 2007 to honor the legacy of artist and educator Theodore Randall, remembered as the architect of the School of Art and Design at Alfred and as a significant artist and organizer in the field.
The Randall Chair is open to established, international artists living outside the United States as non-US citizens who, by virtue of their stature as experienced artists, will bring diverse cultural insight.
Young Mi LeeYoung Mi Lee is a celebrated ceramic artist and educator based in South Korea, bridging figurative tradition and contemporary exploration. She currently serves as an Associate Professor in the Department of Ceramics and Glass Art at Hongik University in Seoul, where she has been inspiring students since 2015. Before this, Young Mi held a pivotal role as Associate Professor at Jingdezhen Ceramic University in China from 2008 to 2014, further solidifying her international perspective and artistic versatility.
Young Mi's artistic career began in China, where she spent over a decade deeply engaged in figurative sculpture. During this formative period, she crafted evocative porcelain works that delved into themes of identity and the human condition. Her experience as a Korean artist studying abroad allowed her to reexamine her identity and culture from a unique outsider’s perspective. This journey of self-discovery significantly shaped her artistic voice, enabling her to redefine her personal and professional identity.
Over the years, Young Mi Lee’s practice has focused on portraying the tensions between individual existence and societal expectations. Her works reflect struggles to conform to the rigid societal norms of Korea in the 1980s and 1990s while simultaneously grappling with the rapid transformations of the 2000s. These themes manifest in delicate yet powerful ceramic pieces embody inner conflicts, personal suffering, and resilience.
Young Mi Lee’s dedication to her craft is exemplified through an impressive array of solo and group exhibitions across Asia. Her recent solo exhibitions include Nature Diary (2022) and Small Garden (2020) at Dorossy Salon in Seoul, as well as Return at the Sanbao Museum in Jingdezhen, China (2019). In group settings, her work has been featured in international showcases, such as the Macau 2020 Belt and Road Exhibition and the Spring Field Flowers exhibition in Shanghai.
Her works are housed in prestigious collections, including the Ningbo Art Museum in China, the Jeju Yeomiji Botanical Garden in Korea, and The Light of Life Home Town collection in Gapyeong, Korea. These placements underscore her impact within both artistic and public spaces.
Through her teaching, exhibitions, and profound exploration of identity, Young Mi Lee continues to influence the field of ceramic art globally. Her work is a testament to the transformative power of art in navigating personal and cultural histories, offering viewers an intimate look into universal struggles and triumphs.
Dr. Wendy GersDr. Gers is an award-winning international academic, curator and consultant. She has lived and worked in the Netherlands, UK, France, South Africa, China and Taiwan etc., and established research laboratories, taught and curated major exhibitions in Europe, East Asia, the Middle East and Africa. Among these exhibitions are 2 major Biennales, that were visited by over 1 million people. Her curatorial leadership was celebrated by the City Press’s inclusion of Gers in their list of 100 ‘World-Class South Africans’. In parallel, Wendy has delivered over 80 public lectures and keynote addresses in 20 countries, and has served on various juries and boards.
Gers is currently Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at Princessehof National Museum of Ceramics in the Netherlands, a prestigious Rijksmuseum with collection of over 45 000 works.
She has authored numerous catalogues, book chapters and scholarly articles, including the landmark monograph on southern African potteries, Scorched Earth (2016), Cont{r}act Earth (2017) and Terra Nova (2014). She has written chapters for 2 readers, The Ceramics Reader (2017) and The Craft and War Reader (forthcoming). Her research interests include sustainability, decolonisation, museums restitution and healing.
Gers is the recipient of a PhD from the University of Sunderland; MA in History of Art (cum laude); Advanced University Diploma in Information Studies and BA from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. She completed her Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at Tshwane University of Technology (South Africa).
Simeen FarhatSimeen Farhat was born in 1968, in Karachi, Pakistan. Her work has been shown in museum shows including The Asia Society Museum, Houston, Arlington Museum of Art, Ithra Museum, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, The Grace Museum, Abilene, TX, Sharjah Museum of Art, UAE, and The National Gallery, Islamabad, Pakistan.
Farhat also has numerous solo and group exhibitions in New York City, Philadelphia, Dallas, Houston, London, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Bahrain, Kuwait, Pakistan, Germany, France, Switzerland, Austria, 56th Venice Biennale.
Many of her works have been placed in numerous public and private collection including Ithra Museum, Saudi Arabia, Parish School, Dallas Texas, Dallas Records Building, Dallas, TX, US Embassy, Islamabad, Pakistan, US Consulate, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Ammar Architecture Group, Bahrain Mesa Community College, Mesa Arizona, US, Uptown Dermatology, Dallas TX, Abu Dhabi Palace for the Crown Prince, UAE, Tudor Pickering Holt and Co, Houston, TX, Bur Juman, Arjaan Rotana Hotel and Four Seasons Hotel, Dubai UAE, Peninsula Hotel, France.
Farhat’s art has been mentioned and written about in major publications, and catalogues such as: NY Times, Elephant Magazine, Selection Magazine Votergent, Contemporary Practice Philadelphia Inquirer, Dallas Morning News, Dallas Observer, Art and Seek, Artlies, Art and Culture, Houston Chronicle The Daily Dawn, Nukta Art Magazine, Geo News, Canvas Magazine, Harpers' Bazar, Khaleejesque, and Kuwait, India Times, India Today, India Art Journal, Glasstire.
Selva AparicioSelva Aparicio is an interdisciplinary artist from Barcelona, Spain. She received her BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2015 and her MFA in sculpture from Yale University in 2017. Aparicio’s work has been shown internationally in solo and group exhibitions including the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; Yale Center for British Art and the MAD Museum in New York. She was awarded the JUNCTURE Fellowship in Art and International Human Rights in 2016, and The Blair Dickinson Memorial Prize in 2017. She received the Pritzker Pucker Family Foundation Artadia Award in 2022. Her sculpture Auto-da-Fé, exhibited at EXPO Chicago 2023, was donated to the DePaul Art Museum with funds from the Inaugural Barbara Nessim Acquisition Prize. She’s currently working on two outdoor permanent sculptures for both the Belgium Beaufort 2024 Triennale and the Heraclea Archeological Park in Italy and was recently awarded the Burke Prize 2024.
Vanessa MalteseMultidisciplinary in breadth, Vanessa Maltese’s practice deploys various forms of trickery and illusion to pose questions about perception. Maltese is interested in the plasticity of the brain, and how conflicts of perception have the power to change our methods of thinking, even in common everyday experiences.
Maltese received a BFA from OCAD University in 2010. In 2012, Maltese was the National Winner of the RBC Canadian Painting Competition and in 2018 they attended the Glenfiddich Artist in Residence Program. Maltese has exhibited her work in solo and group exhibitions across North America, most recently at COOPER COLE, Toronto (2021); Mickey Gallery, Chicago (2020); Corbett vs Dempsey, Chicago (2019); Night Gallery, Los Angeles (2019); The Power Plant, Toronto (2018); the National Gallery Library and Archives, Ottawa (2017); Carl Louie, London ON (2017); Nicelle Beauchene Gallery, New York (2016); Greenpoint Terminal Gallery, New York (2016); Art Museum of the University of Toronto, Toronto (2016); and Erin Stump Projects, Toronto (2012). Maltese currently lives and works in Toronto, Canada.
Ziyang WuZiyang Wu is an artist based in Hangzhou and New York, currently teaching at the School of Design and Innovation at China Academy of Art, and is a current member of NEW INC at the New Museum. With an MFA from the Rhode Island School of Design, and a BFA from the Florence Academy of Fine Arts, his video, AR, AI simulation and interactive video installation have exhibited internationally, including the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) in Philadelphia, Rhizome at the New Museum in New York, Walker Art Center and Rochester Art Center in Minnesota, SXSW in Texas, Art Dubai, Annka Kultys Gallery in London, Eigenheim Gallery in Berlin, Medici Palace in Florence, Milan Design Week, Today Art Museum in Beijing, Chengdu Biennale, Song Art Museum in Beijing and Ming Contemporary Art Museum in Shanghai. His recent fellowships and residencies include “Kai Wu” Interdisciplinary Studio residency, Media Art Lab, Times Museum; AACYF Top 30 under 30; Residency Unlimited; MacDowell Fellowship; Artist-in-residence at Institute for Electronic Arts (IEA) at Alfred University; Winner of The ROCI Road to Peace by Robert Rauschenberg Art Foundation. His work has been reviewed and featured by Artnet, Brooklyn Rail, It’s Nice That, Vogue Singapore, Hypebeast, ArtForum China, Wall Street International, New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA), BIE, Neural Magazine, Vie Des Arts Magazine, ANTE Magazine, Frontrunner Magazine, LEAP Magazine, Coeval Magazine, Stir World Magazine and more.
The International Randall Chairs for the Division of Ceramic Art in the Spring Semester 2022 will be Liet Heringa and Maarten Van Kalsbeek, an artist duo from the Netherlands.
For more than 25 years, since their student days at the Rietveld Académie, they have regularly collaborated as Heringa/Van Kalsbeek on myriad projects in the Netherlands and internationally. Look over their website and CV to see the wide range of materials, methods, and projects they have engaged.
Liet and Maarten will be teaching Junior “Ceramic Sculpture II” within a thematic structure they provocatively titled “Frontstage/Backstage.”
Division Chair Walter McConnell states "I’ve had the pleasure of working with Liet and Maarten at a Korean Biennial in 2004. I can tell you from firsthand experience that they are hardworking prolific artists, fine and generous people with a wealth of knowledge to share and good fun to be around."
Pursue a career as an art professional with the Art History major at Alfred University.
A Fine Arts degree with disciplinary depth and multidisciplinary breadth
A course for first-year students that's predicated on generating a rigorous studio practice through comprehensive teaching philosophy.
