Renqian Yang earned a B.F.A. in Ceramics from Sichuan Fine Arts Institute, China (2009) and an M.F.A. from Syracuse University (2014). She currently serves as an Associate Professor at SUNY Oswego, New York. Yang's artistic journey encompasses exhibitions in venues across the U.S.A., China, Japan and Korea, including: Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, Ithaca (2025); Korea National Assembly Proceeding Hall, Seoul (2023); as part of NCECA conference, ADC Fine Art Gallery, Ohio (2023); Northern Kentucky University Art Gallery, Kentucky (2021); Prefectural Museum of Art and Design, Toyama, Japan (2021); Fou Gallery, New York (2017, 2019, 2021); Cayuga Museum of History and Art, Auburn, New York (2019); Taoxichuan Ceramic Art Avenue Art Gallery, Jingdezhen, China (2018). She served as a residency artist at the Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts (2017, 2023), Craigardan (2018), Jingdezhen International Studio (2018, 2023), andSTARworks, NC (2022). In 2022, Yang was honored with an invitation to the Korea-China Ceramic Art Symposium in South Korea, commemorating three decades of diplomatic ties between China and South Korea. Her work is in the permanent collection of Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

Yang explores the dance between opposing forces— restraint and liberation, pessimism and optimism. Rooted in her migration and survival experiences, she molds clay to embody vulnerabilities, desires, and emotions, capturing time and space within each piece. Clay for her becomes a medium for both liberation and fluidity. Intrigued by Daoist philosophy's balance of nature, society, and self, she uses clay to freeze the flow of spontaneous thoughts and feelings in a specific time and space, encapsulating moments into complex sculptures, paintings, and installations. With an enduring goal to evoke empathy and self-reflection, Yang’s artwork uncovers the intricate, undefined emotions that weave our shared human experience.

Biography

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