Eva Kwong’s exhibition of ceramics at Carl Solway Gallery includes free-standing sculpture and sculptural wall installations made from many elements referencing biological sources such as bacteria, diatoms and cells.  Smaller pieces reflect her personal interpretation of the traditional vase form.  Working in clay, Kwong expresses a philosophical connection to the union of opposites.

Her title, Love Between the Atoms, refers to the attraction between the protons and the electrons in an atom.  In her words, “I see this attractive force as something that bonds us all together in this world. It is this attractive force which forms bonds at the subatomic level that makes things work in the physical world that we experience. It is to build forms with clay this attractive force that enables us and to draw people together and build relationships with each other. In many ways, mutual attraction of one form or another is what enables us to connect and create interactions on microcosmic as well as macrocosmic levels, from the physical to the emotional.

I am interested in the interconnection of the myriad of layers in the world, from microcosm to macrocosm. Maybe it is because I grew up with both eastern and western cultures. I was brought up with the traditional Chinese concept of yin and yang that underlies all life forms and energies.  Growing up in Hong Kong and New York, I learned to look at everything through the lens of both cultures.

This interest of opposite ways of perception, the intertwining of dualities has informed all my work for several decades since I was student. I am interested in the juxtaposition of mass/space, land/air, solid/hollow, male and female forms. I feel I am a hybrid hovering between opposites.”

Eva Kwong’s work is included in numerous collections internationally including the Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, Ohio; the Cleveland Clinic, the Cranbrook Museum of Art, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan; Finnish Craft Museum, Helsinki, Finland; Janet Mansfield Collection, Mansfield Ceramics, Gulgong, Australia; Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minnesota; Shigaraki Park Ceramic Museum, Shigaraki, Japan and Fule International Ceramic Art Museums, Fuping, China.  Her awards include five fellowships from the Ohio Arts Council and two fellowships from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. She is currently participating in a 2017 McKnight Artist Residency for Ceramic Artists at the Northern Clay Center in Minneapolis. 

Kwong has exhibited widely since 1975.  Her numerous residencies, workshops and curatorial projects reflect the deep respect she commands within the ceramics field.  She has held many teaching positions including Head of Ceramics at the University of Akron and Kent State University. 

Kwong received an MFA in Ceramics and Drawing from the Tyler School of Art, Temple University in 1977 and a BFA in Ceramics and Sculpture from the Rhode Island School of Design in 1975.