Artwork


2023



2021 - 2015


2021 Alfred

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2021 - “At My Place”




2021 - “Unhanding Heritage”




2021 - “Flustered Youngster”





2021 - “ Well Behaved Timidity





2020 Alfred
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2020 - Zodiac Cup Set













 





2020 - “Sweet Anticipation”



2020 - “Bathtub Story”



2020 - “Back Home”



2020 - untitled





2020 - “I'm An Only Child“



2020 - “Ended On The 15th year”



2020 - “Bob-over”





2020 - Alfred second year 1st Midterm





2020 Covid Summer
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2019-2020 Alfred 1st Year
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2020 - Alfred first year 2nd Midterm




2019 - Alfred first year 1st Final




2019 - Alfred first year 1st Midterm





2019
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2019 - “Boy, Girl”




2019 - “As A Foreigner”



2019 - Sheridan





2018
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2017
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2016
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2015
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🍚🥢

~ Artist Bio ~ 




Sami Tsang is a Toronto-based ceramic artist whose work explores domestic encounters and private narratives borne out of the flux amidst two cultures – Chinese and Western. Sami studied traditional Chinese painting for 7 years in Hong Kong, which profoundly affected her pursuit of an art career.


Sami earned her BA in Craft & Design from Sheridan College (2019) and her MFA in Ceramics from Alfred University, NY (2021). Sami has presented solo, and group exhibitions and art fairs in the United States, China, and Canada, including Sculpture Space, NYC, The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery, the Gardiner Museum, Cooper Cole Gallery, Toronto, ON, Claire Oliver Gallery in NYC, Toronto Art Fair, NADA Miami, and AYE Gallery in Beijing, China. Tsang’s work is included in private collections, Collection Majudia, and Gardiner Museum. Sami is an Artist-in-Residence (Ceramics) at Harbourfront Centre (Toronto, Canada).











~ Artist Statement ~






Being genuine is central to who I am. Mediated through materials and self-reflection, my work is a raw, truthful, and spontaneous response to how I feel in a given moment. My work is inspired by a sense of urgency to ask the question, what is so pressing?

The Initial sketches that inform my work are inspired by Chinese proverbs from my childhood memories. Additional themes of my work center on humor, vulnerability, challenging tradition and overcoming childhood into adulthood.

When I am creating ceramic sculptures, I work from a meditative place. As the piece evolves, I make additions to the work. My sculptures and drawings are representational of the different stages of my childhood and adolescence where I often felt repressed and silenced. The characters that appear in my work are responses to the moments when I felt entrapped in domestic settings, and then liberated as a Chinese Canadian woman artist.

My sculptural works feature ceramics, textiles, and rice paper covered in resin. My large-scale work point to the importance of representation and taking up space in connection with others.

As I continue to have difficult conversations with myself, the narratives I incorporate into my sculptures represent transformation, breaking boundaries and challenging tradition.










 Artist CV   





    EDUCATION

2021        MFA, Ceramic Art, Alfred University, NY, USA

2019        Bachelor of Craft and Design: Ceramics, with Honours Sheridan College, Canada


ARTISTS RESIDENCIES/FELLOWSHIPS


2024        7th International Artist Retreat and Residency, Anhui, China

2022-25    Artist-in-Residence: Ceramics, Harbourfront Centre, Toronto



EXHIBITIONS & ART FAIRS

Solo

2025        Upcoming - Solo Show, Claire Oliver Gallery, NYC

               Upcoming - EXPO Chicago Art Fair, USA

2024       Upcoming - Art Toronto Fair, Canada

              Upcoming - Two-person exhibition, Harbourfront Centre, Toronto

              Two-person exhibition, AYE Gallery, Beijing, China

2023        Solo Exhibition, Companion Gallery, Humboldt, TN

               A Good Hard Look, Cooper Cole Gallery, Toronto, ON
 
               Sami Tsang, ClayAKAR, Iowa City, USA

2022        Disgraceful Me, Project Booth, Art Toronto Fair, Canada
       
                Know Your Place, Solo Exhibition, Art Gallery of Burlington, Toronto, ON

                Sami Tsang, ClayAKAR, Iowa City, USA

2021         Sami Tsang, Charlie Cumming Gallery, Gainesville, FL

                Mooncake Party, Gardiner Museum Award Winner, Gardiner Museum, Toronto

                Mooncake Party, MFA Thesis Exhibition, Fosdick-Nelson Gallery, Alfred, NY


Group


2024       Emergence, The Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery, Waterloo
       
              Those Heavy Hours, Retail Exhibition, Gardiner Museum, Toronto

               Teetering On The Brink: Femininity, Inheritance and Disaster, Group exhibition, Claire Oliver Gallery, NYC

                Significant Forms, Group exhibition, Kelowna Art Gallery, Kelowna, BC

 
2023      Art Toronto Fair, Canada

              NADA Miami Art Fair, Miami

              In Parallel - Group exhibition, The Power Plant, Toronto
               
              Other Tigers, The Lost & Found, Toronto

             Annual Artstream Spring Tour and Exhibition, Fort Collins, CO

2022      Every Answer is Correct, Ernst & Young, organized by the Powerplant

             Award Exhibition, Craft Ontario, Toronto

              Plenty, Black and Smith Gallery, Jerseyville, ON
       
              What a Cup Knows, Artstream Nomadic Gallery, Fort Collins, CO

              Material Mugs VII, Companion Gallery, Humboldt, TN

              Off-site Exhibition, organized by The Power Plant, Toronto
 
               SMASH, Gardiner’s annual art party, Gardiner Museum, Toronto

               Two-Person (Sami Tsang & Sasha Barrett), Tandem Gallery, Bakersville, NC
               
               Breakthrough PLUS 2022, FUSION Clay & Glass Ontario, Toronto

               Above Board Tableware exhibition, Above Board Ceramics, virtual

                Earth Oracles, Mayten’s Project, Toronto

                Separate/Together, Cooper Cole Gallery, Toronto

2021         Award Exhibition, Craft Ontario, Toronto

                Alfred MFA 2021 Group Exhibition, Sculpture Space, Long Island City, NY

                Above Board Tableware exhibition, Above Board Ceramics, virtual

                Canadian Exhibition, curated by Carole App, The Ceramic School, USA

                15th Yunomi Show, ClayAKAR, Iowa City, IA, USA

2020        Crafts in the Art: International Virtual Exhibition, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand

                Americano 2020, ClayAKAR, Iowa City, IA, USA

                14th Yunomi Show, ClayAKAR, Iowa City, IA, USA

                Confluence, Robert C.Turner Gallery, Alfred, NY, USA

2019        The Intimate Object XV, Charlie Cummings Gallery, Gainesville, FL, USA

                The Functional Canvas IV, Charlie Cummings Gallery, Gainesville, FL, USA

                NCECA Juried Student Exhibition, Soo Visual Arts Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota

                Bonspiel Mug Show, Hennepin Made, Minneapolis, Minnesota

                Sheridan Ceramics Graduate Exhibition, Gardiner Museum, Toronto

                All Year Ceramics Exhibition, Craft and Design, Sheridan Gallery, Canada

2018         Liquids Cream and Gels, Online Exhibition, The Gynocratic Art Gallery, Canada

                Breakthrough Exhibition, Fusion, Toronto

2017         Made in Canada, Gardiner Museum, Toronto

                Year End Exhibition, Craft and Design, Sheridan Gallery, Oakville, ON, Canada




GRANTS AND AWARDS

2024         Finalist for the Winifred Shantz Award for Ceramics, The Canadian Clay & Glass

                Canada Council for the Arts, Travel Grant

2023         OAC, Exhibition Assistance Grant

2022         OAC, Skills and Career Development Grant

                Pottery Supply House Grant, Craft Ontario, Toronto

                Emerging Clay and Glass Artists, FUSION Clay & Glass Ontario, Toronto

2021         Tucker’s Pottery Supplies - Clay Supply Grant, Craft Ontario, Toronto

2019         Clifford Scholarship, for Exceptional Personal Achievement, Sheridan College

                Gardiner Museum Award Winner, You Know What I Mean, Toronto

                Mudtools Merit Award, NCECA Juried Student Exhibition, Minneapolis

                FUSION Scholarship Award, Fusion, Toronto

2018         Joan Bennet Award, for Outstanding Achievement, Sheridan College

2017         Best In Show Award, Made In Canada, Gardiner Museum, Toronto




PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE (Related Work, Presentations)

2023         Canadian Clay Symposium, Demonstrating Artist, Burnaby, BC

                Visiting Artist, Demonstration and Artist Talk, Sheridan College, Oakville, ON

2022          Guest Artist Presentation, Mississauga Potters' Guild, Canada

                  New Clay Conference, Demonstrating Artist, Ottawa, Canada

                  Earth Oracles, Panel Discussion, Mayten’s Project, hosted by Gardiner Museum

2021            Craft Ontario, Artist talk, Award Exhibition, Toronto

                    Renaissance Venice, exhibition installation, Gardiner Museum, Toronto

2020            Make and Do Ceramics, From the Personal to the Universal, Artist talk/Demo, virtual

2017-2019    Studio Assistant (summer) Timothy Smith, Gleason Brook Pottery, Wiarton, ON




TEACHING

2021          Introduction to Hand-building (TA), Brooke Cashion, Alfred University, NY

2020         Sophomore Intro to Hand-building (TA), Meghan Smythe, Alfred University, NY

2020         Ceramic Pottery II (TA), John Gill, Alfred University, NY

2019         Observational Drawing (TA), Alfred University, NY




COLLECTIONS

North Dakota Museum of Art
Private collections
Collection Majudia
Gardiner Museum







ON-LINE MEDIA

Metal Magazine April 1st 2024

NUVO Magazine Sept 1st 2023

CBC ARTS October 24th, 2022

NOW PLAYING TORONTO - Shaping Personal and Universal Narrative

Globe & Mail February 27, 2022


ARTE FUSE February 2022

GARDINER MUSEUM

GARDINER MUSEUM - 15 Canadian women ceramic artists to follow

ALFRED UNIVERSITY

CRAFT ONTARIO

ART KUNST MATRIX

ART VIEWER February 16, 2022

Art Toronto 2021

Contemporary Art Daily

Demo and Conversation with Sami Tsang - From the Personal to the Universal (YouTube)

LIQUIDS, CREAMS & GELS | Curated by Mariko Paterson (Exhibition)


LANGUAGES

Cantonese, English, Mandarin