Join Ruiz-Healy Art's associate director, Patti Ruiz-Healy, and artist Jennifer Ling Datchuk for a conversation followed by a Q and A discussing identity, women and the future of art in our current cultural and political landscape.

"My work has always dealt with identity, with the sense of being in-between, an imposter, neither fully Chinese nor Caucasian. I have learned to live with the constant question about my appearance: “What are you?" - Jennifer Ling Datchuk

BIOGRAPHY . B. 1980 Datchuk was born in Warren, Ohio, and currently lives and works in San Antonio, Texas. Trained in ceramics, her works often use a myriad of materials ranging from porcelain to fabric and embroidery. Datchuk holds an MFA in Artisanry from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth and a BFA in Crafts from Kent State University. She has received grants from the Artist Foundation of San Antonio as well as Artpace to research the birthplace of porcelain in Jingdezhen, China.  As the child of a Chinese immigrant and grandchild of Russian and Irish immigrants, the family histories of conflict she has inherited are a perpetual source for her work. She captures this conflict by exploring the emotive power of domestic objects and rituals that fix, organize, soothe, and beautify our lives. Stemming from personal experience, Datchuk explores her Asian heritage and specifically connects to Chinese blue-and-white porcelain traditions.“My work has always dealt with identity, with the sense of being in-between, an imposter, neither fully Chinese nor Caucasian. I have learned to live with the constant question about my appearance: ‘What are you?’ I change my response depending on my hair, make-up, clothes, what I am doing, where I am at, or what I am eating – who I am at the moment. I find people are rarely satisfied with my answer. I explore this conflict through my chosen media – porcelain, which nods to my Chinese heritage but also represents “pure” white – the white desire I find in both cultures. Bound by these conditions, I stitch together my individual nature, unravel the pressures of conformity, and forever experience pain in search of perfection.” – Jennifer Ling Datchuk.