about

hey, it's me, lem :)

 

 I am a ceramic artist from Vietnam who currently lives and creates in Brooklyn. In 2021, when I was still working as a data analyst in LA, I took my first pottery class and fell in love with clay. The feeling of creating something with your hands is the best feeling in the world. Experiencing this has helped me reassess my life and make some changes. I decided to leave the corporate world and start doing my own thing.

Although I started with wheel throwing, I mostly hand build my ceramic babies now. Clay teaches me a lot and the more I work with it, the more I realize it is such a beautiful metaphor for life. I started mixing different clay bodies soon after I started ceramics and haven’t stopped since. The idea of combining multiple clay bodies of different origins, colors, shrinkage percentages, textures,… to build one whole piece reminds me of the diversity that we have right here. Working with multiple clays is slightly different from working with just one. It is a very slow process and it has a higher chance of cracking, but I learned to believe that nothing can’t be fixed with a little gold and glue. And some cracks make the piece even more beautiful and unique when you think about the meaning of it. This is like having two or more groups of people of different cultures/backgrounds living together. It may take some time for them to integrate and understand each other and there may be some conflicts between them, but given the time and help, they will grow stronger and more beautifully together.

The sun, clouds, plants, landscapes, my travels, my culture, and my surroundings are my main inspirations. I believe that with the help of clay - the Earth - my works will help you awaken all of your senses and feel grounded. It will also help you connect with your surroundings, yourself, and others because we are all energetically intertwined.

You can learn more about my work from my interview with shoutout LA here