Artist Statement

Yutong’s ceramic practice leverages simple shapes in colorful repetitions, creating a surface textile to the touch and pleasing for the sight. She draws upon patterns and linework abstracted from her own childhood art, distilling into a collection of marks reminiscent of what children instinctively pick up when first learning to draw. In returning to her artistic roots, she confronts herself why she was indoctrinated to deprioritize her need to create and to dismiss the joy she felt in making art, in favor of “getting ahead” and “becoming successful”. In this era of decreasing social mobility and increasing wealth disparities, is it worthwhile to continue this cycle of hustling and grinding, without questioning your inner child: what truly makes you happy?

Artist Biography

Yutong Liao is a Seattle-based ceramic artist. She holds a BA in Visual Arts and Computer Science from Brown University. After a decade of career in tech, she rediscovered her passion to create in a pottery lesson in 2022. Since then, she has continued her ceramic education in community studios around Seattle, WA. She is an active participant in regional juried art and craft markets, such as Urban Craft Uprising in Seattle and Crafty Wonderland in Portland. Her work has been chosen in group shows, at galleries including Good Earth Pottery in Bellingham, Phase 55 in Seattle, and the Purple Door in Portland. She is currently a resident at the Clay Corner, as part of their career residency program.