Casey Chen's ceramics practice recontextualises traditional Chinese ceramics with motifs from both traditional folklore and contemporary popular culture, existing at the intersections of tradition and contemporary, of form and function.
What is inspiring you at the moment?
I’m really enjoying looking at historical examples of Chinese porcelain; they’ve consistently been objects that inspire me and I frequently use their shapes and motifs as references within my work. I’ve also been re-watching lots of old cartoons and I’ve been drawing from panels and footage of 80’s anime, such as Gundam and Mazinger Z. Rosemary Lee is an artist that I’ve always appreciated; she recently had a solo show at Flinders Street Gallery and I was lucky enough to have the chance to be in a show with her at the recent Red Inc group show at Firstdraft.
How do historical and contemporary cultural dialogues across Asia inform your practice?
Contemporary and historical examples of Kutani and Arita porcelain have had some of the biggest influences on my practice. I’m interested in incorporating tradition with contemporary sketches and pop culture references. All the techniques I use are derived from traditional ceramic painting techniques, such as Chinese wucai and doucai onglaze decoration where you’ll paint outlines and sketches in cobalt underglaze and then fill in the rest of the colours with enamels in a separate firing.
What have you learned through your creative process? What has art taught you?
I owe a lot of what I’ve learned in my practice from my teachers at art school. Stephen Bird and Lynda Draper were generous with their knowledge and support and it was during the second year plate-making and decorating that I began to develop a sense of what my practice could be in ceramics. I learn from other ceramicists whenever I can and I’ve been lucky with the amount of resources that have been freely provided from books and research on the internet.
You recently displayed ceramic brooches on a denim jacket at Tiles gallery – are wearable works new to your practice? What influenced you to explore this form?
The ceramic badges are something we’ve been working on collectively at the studio. I’m in a studio collective started by a few friends from art school called Kitchen Studios and we’re based in Marrickville. The ones included in the show were some I made recently and they’re a lot more loose and playful than the usual things I make. It’s refreshing to be able to show works that are different from your usual practice but I can’t claim ownership of the idea of making wearable ceramic ornaments. Fellow practising ceramicists include Mac Mansfield, Ben King, Marianna Ebersoll and Mackenzie Rowe. We’re keen to make more and we have an idea for an informal DIY sort of badge show where we pin them to our clothes and stand on milk crates in a park.
Your ceramic vases, plates and brooches have an inherent function to their form. Is the tension between functional object and fine art important in your work?
I like that the works can be used as the objects that they are but also appreciated for their ornamental values. I think I’m just following a ceramic tradition of making functional ware that I hope is appealing to use and to look at. Much of the forms and examples of fine porcelain that I admire and reference follow this tradition and fulfil a function for their purpose. Jingdezhen is perhaps considered the porcelain capital of the world and historically made elaborately decorated wares for domestic use and export. I sincerely hope that the vases and plates I make can fulfil some function beyond just being appreciated for how they look.
How does working with others in Red Inc. shift, shape and support your creative practice?
It’s been brilliant, there were 8 artists in the Red Inc show, all with disparate and varied styles of creative practice. It was organised and curated by a friend from art school, Chris Chew and I think it was a great opportunity for East-Asian artists to exhibit together and bounce ideas off one another for the show. We reckon it’d be good to follow through with more shows in the future as the collective and to invite more artists to be on board.
What are you working on next?
I’m getting ready for my solo show with N.Smith Gallery in December and I reckon I’ll be flat out busy making work for that.
