The Clay Studio partners with One Book, One Philadelphia to present HERstory, an exhibition of work by women ceramicists whose narrativesexplore ideas rooted in personal experience and address heritage, culture, gender, sexuality, anddomesticity.
One Book, One Philadelphia – a project of the Free Library ofPhiladelphia – “promotes reading, literacy and libraries, encouraging theentire greater Philadelphia area to come together through the reading anddiscussion of a single book.” The2013 selection is Julie Otsuka’s The Buddha in the Attic. This book follows the lives of a groupof women brought from Japan to San Francisco as ‘picture brides’ in the early1920’s. It shares their journey asnew wives, field hands, and mothers. It is a story of the American Dream, the preservation of heritage andhistory, their struggles with language and cultural barriers, and the balancingof their domestic, personal, and professional lives. As acclimatization forces their families to be less Japaneseand more American, their worlds are upturned and they’re deemed ‘traitors’ asWorld War II unfolds.
Inspired by the selection and publication ofOtsuka’s novel,
HERstorybroadens the themes within the book to encompass the many roles and issuesconcerning women, particularly those that cross continents and culturaldivides, and that span generations. These include the celebration and/or struggle with heritage, culture, gender, sexuality, and domesticity. The all-female makers included in this exhibition approach their work froma highly personal perspective and sensitively explore these universal themes. Participating Artists include: Pattie Chalmers, Jennifer Ling Datchuk, Shalene Valenzuela, Kathy King, Alyssa Wood, Blake Williams and Janis Mars Wunderlich.
"
