Myth, Spirituality, and Storytelling Converge in Ceramics by Chenlu Hou and Chiara No

"Hou's colorful sculptures draw on her Chinese heritage, "blending folklore, remembrance, and the layered experiences of diaspora and cultural hybridity," the museum says. "Chiara No creates chiming bells that personify idols, demons, and goddesses inspired by ancient, pagan, and Christian mythologies." And for No, characterful sculptures embody myth and allegory, influenced by terracotta figures from ancient Boeotia, a region of south-central Greece."

"Both artists incorporate painting into their works, with tiny tableaux enriching the surfaces. For example, Hou's "Tian Gou Shi Ri - The truth about solar eclipse and how to observe it using pinhole imaging principle" depicts a giant female dog biting the sun with an image of a woman holding up a large object shaped like an eye-perhaps a viewing device-on its front leg."

Chenlu Hou and Chiara No create ceramic objects that evoke sacredness through ritual, myth, and cultural memory. The works foreground ceremony and customs while probing how cultures change and merge over time. Hou's colorful sculptures draw on Chinese folklore, remembrance, and diasporic experience, often incorporating painted tableaux across sculptural surfaces. No crafts chiming bells and figurative forms that embody idols, demons, and goddesses, drawing on pagan, Christian, and ancient terracotta influences from Boeotia. Both artists use playful, slightly cartoonish gestures to render time-honored beliefs in contemporary forms, prompting reflection on storytelling and spiritual practice.

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