BETH LO

OUR AMERICA/WHOSE AMERICA?

2022 | Ferrin Contemporary | North Adams, MA

Our America/Whose America? Is a “call and response” exhibition between contemporary artists and historic ceramic objects. View the historic collection here.


Beth Lo
“Shelter”
2021
porcelain
24 x 13″


Beth Lo
“Take Out Boy”
2021
porcelain
12 x 11 x 6.5″


Beth Lo
“Model Minority”
2022
porcelain
5.5 x 10.5 x 5″


My work in ceramics and mixed media revolves primarily around issues of family and my Asian-American background.  Cultural marginality and blending, tradition vs. Westernization, language and translation are key elements in my work. 

ABOUT BETH LO

Ceramist and mixed media artist Beth Lo makes work about family, culture and language. Her Good Children vessels and sculptures have been exhibited nationally and internationally and she has been the recipient of a United States Artist Fellowship, a National Endowment for the Arts Individual Artist Fellowship, Montana Arts Council Individual Artist Grant and an American Craft Museum Design Award. She is also a children’s book illustrator and professional bass player. She retired after 30 years of teaching ceramics at the University of Montana in 2016.

ON HER WORK

My work in ceramics and mixed media revolves primarily around issues of family and my Asian-American background.  Cultural marginality and blending, tradition vs. Westernization, language and translation are key elements in my work.  Since the birth of my son in 1987, I have been drawing inspiration from major events in my family’s history, the day-to-day challenges of parenting, and my own childhood memories of being raised in a minority culture in the United States.  I use the image of a child as a symbol of innocence, potential and vulnerability.

For the Model Minority series, I am satirizing the stereotypical idealizations of Chinese immigrants to the US, as well as questioning the values that are being espoused.