Jennifer Ling
Datchuk

Jennifer Ling Datchuk is an artist born in Warren, OH, and raised in Brooklyn, NY. Datchuk’s mother came to this country in the early 1970s from China and her father was born and raised in Ohio to Eastern European and Russian immigrant parents. Beyond initial appearances, the layers of her parents’ past and present histories are extremely overwhelming and complicated—a history of conflict she has inherited and a perpetual source for her work. Trained in ceramics, the artist works with porcelain and other materials often associated with traditional women’s work, such as textiles and hair, to discuss fragility, beauty, femininity, intersectionality, identity, and personal history.

She 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, a travel grant from Artpace, and the Linda Lighton International Artist Exchange Program to research the global migrations of porcelain and blue and white pattern decoration. She was awarded a residency through the Blue Star Contemporary Art Museum to conduct her studio practice at the Künstlerhaus Bethanien in Berlin and has participated in residencies at the Pottery Workshop in Jingdezhen, China; Vermont Studio Center; European Ceramic Work Center in the Netherlands; and Artpace in San Antonio, TX. In 2017, she received the Emerging Voices award from the American Craft Council. Datchuk is an assistant professor of Ceramics at Texas State University and lives and maintains a studio practice in San Antonio, TX.

Portrait photo by Clint Datchuk.