Across Ten Thousand Mountains 万重山

Jing Huang

October 3rd - November 19th, 2024

Receptions:

Opening reception: October 4th | 5-8pm 

Artist Talk: October 4th | 6:30pm

First Friday Reception: November 1st | 5-8pm 

 Gravers Lane Gallery is pleased to present Across Ten Thousand Mountains, ceramic artist Jing Huang’s first solo exhibition at Gravers Lane Gallery. The first of two receptions will take place on October 4th, 5-8pm. Please join Jing Huang’s opening night presentation at 6:30pm. The second reception will take place November 1st, 5- 8pm and the exhibition closes on November 21st, 2024.

“Across Ten Thousand Mountains” is an exploration of nature, migration, identity, memory, and home.  Born and raised in the small mountainous city of Guilin (桂林) in southern China, Jing Huang brought her art practice to Canada in 2013 and later to the U.S. in 2018. Amid the dislocation and ambiguity of being neither here nor there, Jing anchors herself by tracing her past and drawing inspiration from early memories of her background and hometown’s landscape after a long absence. Her ceramic forms explore the unknown scenery between her past and present, reflecting the flow of landscape and atmosphere in changing environments. These works embody the nature of her diasporic experience, living and moving among different cultures and languages. They transcend mere representation of her hometown or any specific location; rather, they seek a deeper understanding of her identity and experience in the world. 

The title of the exhibition, “Across Ten Thousand Mountains”, is drawn from the renowned Tang Dynasty poem “Leaving White Emperor Town at Dawn” (早发白帝城) : 

朝辞白帝彩云间，Leaving at dawn the White Emperor crowned with rainbow cloud, 

千里江陵一日还。I've sailed a thousand miles through Three Gorges in a day. 

两岸猿声啼不住，With monkeys’ sad adieus the riverbanks are loud; 

轻舟已过万重山。My boat has left ten thousand mountains far away. 



In this poem, the poet Li Bai (李白) expresses his joy in returning home, finding serenity after a journey marked by trials and tribulations. After living away from her country for more than ten years, Jing deeply resonates with this poem in her artistic exploration, where she navigates the uncharted terrain between memory and  present reality, reconstructing her sense of self and place with each creation. Her ceramics, much like the  journey depicted in the poem, reflect a voyage through shifting landscapes, capturing the essence of her displaced experience and the complex feeling of ‘home’ that is both ever-present and ever-changing.

Jing Huang’s work is composed of multiple layers of ceramic materials and possibilities, suspended and fired on stilts, flowing down and pooling naturally in response to the topography and gravity. She hand-builds her sculptures part by part and assembles them together to achieve an unknown structure and landscape. During this experimental and highly unpredictable process of making, firing, and installing, the position of her work shifts and changes, becoming a new work of art. The work then becomes ambiguous in nature - it is neither the picture of her hometown nor the view of where she lives currently. 

Born and raised in Guilin, China, Jing Huang is a ceramic artist currently living and working in Charlotte, North Carolina. She received degrees from Jingdezhen Ceramic Institute in China (BA, Ceramic Art, 2012), Sheridan College in Canada (Diploma, Crafts and Design - Ceramics, 2015), and Alfred University in the US (MFA, Ceramic Art, 2020).  Jing has lectured, curated exhibitions, conducted workshops and exhibited extensively throughout the US, Canada, China and the UK. The National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA), and Ceramics Monthly Magazine featured Jing as an Emerging Artist in 2023. Jing’s work is included in private and public collections  including the permanent collections of the Victoria & Albert Museum (London, UK), Alfred Ceramic Art Museum (Alfred, US), Yingge Ceramics Museum (Taipei, Taiwan),  Durham University Oriental Museum (Durham, UK), and Manchester Metropolitan  University Special Collections Museum (Manchester, UK).