Ting-Ju SHAO

View in collection Born in Taipei, Taiwan, she became an apprentice at the Tien Mu ceramic studio in 1985. She studied English at Kuang Tu Christ's College and then set up her studio in 1989. She worked as a freelance illustrator, and has been published over 50 journals. She worked as a cartoonist and columnist for China Times in Taiwan where she still writes for Ceramic Arts magazine. She has won many awards for her ceramic work including first place at the 6th R.O.C Ceramics Biennial in Taiwan in 1996, and the McKnight residence Award at the Northern Clay Centre, Minneapolis, in 2004. She makes small scale monumental figures with oversized limbs, reminiscent of the Polish artist Josef Herman's miners in Ystradynglais, Wales. Her figures are always barefoot and dressed in simple robes, and even though her tiny faces are featureless, she manages to create facial expression with one simple pinch of the clay. Her solo exhibitions often feature multiple characters performing balancing acts like a circus troupe which she sees as explorations of human relationships.

Details

• Dates: b. 1963