BETH LO was born in West Lafayette, IN in 1949; she took her undergraduate degree at the University of Michigan and her MFA in ceramics at the University of Montana in 1974.  Lo currently teaches at the University of Montana at Missoula.  She has received numerous awards and grants for the development of her work during the nineties.  Her work has been included in numerous invitational exhibitions since 1980, among them the “NCECA Cup Show” at SOFA Chicago Art Exhibition, Navy Pier, Chicago (1996); “Drawing on Clay” at the Baltimore Clay Works (1998), and “Ceramic Arts Millennium Invitational in Beijing, China (1999).  She has had both gallery and museum solo shows, most recently at the J. Maddux Parker Gallery in Sacramento (1996) and the Gallery Two at Washington State University (1997).   Lo showed at the Mia Gallery in Seattle until it closed in 1997.  Lo’s ceramic work as been informed by her personal experiences as a child, parent, and Chinese-American.  According to Lo, her work has become “more literal, narrative, and figurative” over the years.   She works with both porcelain and “Sheetrock” depending on the scale and intention of the piece. 

Artist's Statement

My work in ceramics and mixed media collage revolves primarily around issues of family and my Asian-American background. Cultural marginality and blending, tradition and Westernization, language and translation are key elements in my work. Since the birth of my son in 1987, I have been drawing inspiration from major events in my family’s history, the day-to-day challenges of parenting, and my own childhood memories of being raised in a minority culture in the United States. I also enjoy investigating, celebrating and sometimes satirizing traditional Asian aesthetics, including calligraphy, origami, scrolls, Socialist Realist artwork, Chinese souvenirs and toys, the game of mahjong, as well as Ming and Tang dynasty ceramics.

In recent years I have taken several trips to China to meet my many aunts, uncles and cousins, and gain further understanding of their culture and personal histories. These trips have led to the Family Album Series inspired from their treasured photo albums, calligraphy lessons with my Aunt Luo Hui Yan, and ultimately to incorporating her own calligraphy into my work through collage. This idea of collaboration with my family led me to ask my mother, Kiahsuang Shen Lo to enhance my porcelain vessels with some of her delicate traditional Chinese painting. I also recently completed sixteen porcelain platters that serve as the illustrations for the children’s book, “Mahjong All Day Long,” (Walker Books, NY) co-written by my sister, Ginnie Lo. The book has been honored as the Marion Vannett Ridgeway Award winner of 2005 and one of the three Montana Book Award Honor books in 2006.

Beth Lo
September 2007