Stephanie H. Shih

Shih was born and raised in New Jersey to parents who had emigrated from Taiwan.^[1] Prior to beginning her art career, Shih had been working as a copywriter. She started to throw and sculpt in clay as a therapeutic way to manage chronic pain.^[2] Since 2009, she has been living and working in Brooklyn.^[3]

Shih’s ceramic sculptures represent a reflection of Asian Diaspora culture, through food items that have been created or adapted by Asian communities in Western countries.^[4]

Her work in clay began with pottery inspired by Chinese Qing and Song dynasties. Thereafter, she started to create hand-folded porcelain dumplings.^[5] Shih has since created over one-thousand ceramic dumplings. These dumplings are vessels that hold significant emotional memories. Shih began making real pork-filled dumplings at an early age with her family and recognized their culinary significance.^[6]

In 2018, Shih created a group of life-sized food items rendered in clay, which she titled “Oriental Grocery.” Some of the sculptures in the series include a sriracha bottle, Chinkiang black vinegar, Lao Gan Ma chili sauce, a box of Pocky, Chapagetti noodles, and a 50lb bag of Botan rice. Other food items Shih has sculpted include Kings Hawaiian buns and SPAM, which are products that were introduced to Asian Diasporic communities as a result of the United States’ global militarization and colonial exploitation.^[7][8]

Art critic John Yau states that “Shih’s work is both aesthetic and political, a commentary on assimilation as a process in which one’s national origin is not forgotten or erased. This resistance troubles a significant number of Americans. They might go to a Chinese restaurant and open their fortune cookie at the end of the meal, but they don’t like the colorful diversity that the future holds for them.” ^[9]