Frank Thong

bio

Frank Thong was born in Kansas City, Missouri, and earned a BFA in Ceramics, a minor in Arts Entrepreneurship with an Asian Studies certificate from the Kansas City Art Institute. Currently, he is an artist in resident at both the KC Clay Guild and Charlotte Street Foundation and has previously been an artist in resident at the International Ceramics Studio in Kecskemet, Hungary. He has received various grants such as the McKeown Special Project Award, Nathan and Thelma Notkin Ceramic Award, and The Fund Study Abroad Scholarship. Growing up as an Asian-American, Frank has always felt like an outlier among his peers. His work focuses on the balance between Eastern and Western influences which is contextualized through his cultural identity. Previously Frank has conducted social gatherings to encourage the growth of the Asian community at the Kansas City Art Institute. Frank further plans to utilize his experiences and education to create spaces to for the local Asian-American community to share, connect and create.

Artist Statement

“Clay. I manipulate and warp this substance into vessels to teach others about social issues regarding the discrimination of Asian-Americans. With the potter’s wheel I contextualize clay into forms such as bowls, cups and vases in hopes that these objects connect me to others. With each piece I create from my hands, I hope to chip away at social stereotypes and to one day create a place where Asian-Americans can be represented. The intent placed in my work conveys complex conversations with brushed symbolic imagery using the vessels as a canvas in order to strike dialogue between object and person.

From the East to the West I seek a combination of imagery and form from these distant cultures to capture perspectives, views and relationships between groups of people in America. Drawing concepts from Asian ceramics and my cultural experiences growing up, I compose functional, yet ergonomic objects that encapsulate the Asian-American dilemma. On the pieces, I paint symbolic imagery that reflects my heritage from previous familial generations. My brush is dipped in materials reflective of ancient ceramics to bridge into the modern era. Oftentimes people think about the well known blue and white ware, but my work inherits more than just that. From san cai ware to celadon ware and imperial ware, I allow for these historical techniques to caress the ceramic forms I make, to compose a reflection of my Asian-American experience. Whether that be a cup, plate, bowl or even sculpture it is important to me that these objects create intimate connections and generate queries about social injustice.