Bio
Micah Lewis-Văn Sweezie is a ceramic artist from Kalamazoo, Michigan. They are shaped and influenced by dichotomous elements of culture and craft from their upbringing in both Vietnam and America. They earned their BFA from The School of The Art Institute of Chicago in 2022 focused in ceramics and sculpture. Micah self-conducted a study abroad to Vietnam in 2023 to research ancient and contemporary forms of Vietnamese ceramic production – this research trip was supported in part by the NCECA (National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts) Regina Brown Undergraduate Student Fellowship. Micah’s work has been exhibited in group and solo shows nationally including Eutectic Gallery, Baltimore Clayworks, and the NCECA Annual Exhibition. They’ve also received various grants and fellowships including the NCECA Multicultural fellowship and the Artaxis x Haystack fellowship. Micah is also recognized as a 2025 NCECA Emerging Artist Fellow and dually, a 2025 Northern Indiana Clay Alliance Emerging Artist.
Statement
Sweezie produces ceramic and sculptural works to investigate themes of labor, memory, globalization, and material history. Their practice is heavily informed by historical research and is often inspired by revolutionary events and personal ancestral histories. Correlations between human intervention and industrial production are the crux of their work. These correlations broaden realities of understanding around our physical world, product origins, and our relationship to industrialized material. Sweezie’s forms are posed as recognizable and minimal to reflect their origins while simultaneously contrasting themselves through alternative mediums and processes. Sweezie utilizes molded and cast forms frequently to question values tied to reproduction and authorship within industry. Material value is also central to their practice. Sweezie employs an assortment of mediums such as porcelain, latex, bronze, rubber, rice paper, cast plastic, and gold gilding. Through these materials, they aspire to reposition suppressed relational histories within global and institutional perceptions.
