Jolie Ngo
TRUTHSAYERS / BETATESTERS
© Jolie Ngo.
From Haystack to Santa Barbara, Jolie Ngo has crisscrossed the country in her car since completing her MFA from Alfred University in 2022. Residencies and teaching workshops are lifelines for young ceramic artists; the expense of acquiring a kiln of one’s own is daunting, and thus the years after graduation are often nomadic. Most potters might keep their fettling knives and scrapers in a kit on the passenger seat. For Ngo, pride of place goes to her PotterBot 3D printer. Ngo’s work has been described as cyborgian, partly because of her use of modeling software to design forms and a robotic syringe to extrude clay. Ngo’s landscapes are based on Minecraft and other video sandbox games, and her 2022 Memory Palace vessels often include digitally printed plastic signature bases in the shape of sneaker soles for extra Gen Z vibes.
In her recent work, the abrupt creative tension between the handmade and the digital has become nuanced, and her pieces have become more magisterial and reminiscent of 1950s abstract expressionist ceramics. Institutions have taken notice, with several of her largest-scale works to date acquired by the Everson Museum of Art in Syracuse, New York, and the Rhode Island School of Design Museum.
B. 1996, Philadelphia, PA
Lives and works in Santa Barbara, CA
SM9689
Lantern Vessel in Collage, 2024, stoneware, glaze, PLA plastic, epoxy, wire, luster. Courtesy of the artist, photography by R & Company.
FL597
Floor Lamp in Fasciation, 2024, Stoneware, glaze, epoxy, wire, luster, PLA plastic, and brass. 64" (H) x 15" (W) x 14" (D). Courtesy of the artist, photography by R & Company