2021

The ambivalence of human emotion occurs through unresolved and confusing situations in external and internal matters. An ambivalent moment reveals itself to Soojin Choi, and her work depicts that gray area of humanity. Soojin recreates unsettled situations so viewers can empathetically encounter the emotions of her human forms. Soojin’s work expresses ambiguity of emotion through flat and spatial surfaces; subtle facial expression, gaze and body gesture; as well as color and brush expressions. Building the surfaces with clay allows seamless weaving between dimensions and textures to articulate feelings of ambivalence.

Soojin Choi was born and raised in South Korea, and has worked as an artist in the United States since 2010. Soojin earned her BFA at Virginia Commonwealth University in 2015 with a double major in craft/ material studies and painting/printmaking. She continued her studies at Alfred University to pursue a MFA degree in ceramics in 2018. After graduate school, she accepted a residency at the Northern Clay Center in Minneapolis, MN with funding by Anonymous Artist Studio Fellowship and a long-term resident artist at Red Lodge Clay Center in Red Lodge, MT. Soojin joins The Bray as the 2021 Speyer Fellow.

Uriel Caspi’s artworks propose an interplay between the revival of ancient crafts and contemporary art studio practice. Hailing from Haifa, Israel, Uriel is  visually inspired by archeological remnants from the Middle East and the aesthetics of future design. Installations of large-scale ceramic sculptures operate as platforms for artistic interaction between the artist and the viewer. Antiquarian connotations from the artist’s local surroundings as well as objects from the domicile are transformed into clay, in a process of experimental study that occasionally combines both ancient techniques and digital fabrication. 

Uriel H Caspi was born in Haifa, Israel. He received his MFA in ceramic art from the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University, USA. In 2018, graduated magna cum laude from the ceramics department, Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design, Jerusalem. Uriel studied at the Rhode Island School of Design and Cranbrook Ceramics, MI. His works and installations have been showcased nationally and abroad. In 2019, Uriel was awarded an emerging artist prize of the Hecht Museum Foundation. Uriel joins The Bray as the 2021 Matsutani Fellow.