Sin-ying Ho

Sin Ying Cassandra Ho (Sin-ying Ho) holds a BFA from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design and an MFA from Louisiana State University. While she studied at Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, she participated in an Off Campus Study Program. This allowed her to study at the Jingdezhen Ceramics Institute in China, one of the most prestigious institutes of higher learning in China that is dedicated to the study of ceramic arts. Jingdezhen is considered the birthplace of porcelain.

Ho has an impressive exhibition record. In each of the last five years, she has participated in four to eight group shows. Recent Solo exhibitions include those at Burlington Art Centre, Burlington, Ontario, Canada (2010); Canadian Clay & Glass Gallery, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada (2010); Gardiner Museum, Toronto, Ontario, Canada (2008), Centre De Ceramique Bonsecours, Montreal, Quebec, Canada (2006); and KOA Gallery, University of Pittsburgh, Bradford, PA (2005). Her pieces are in the permanent collections of the Icheon World Ceramic Centre in Korea, Glenbow Museum in Canada, Burlington Art Centre in Canada, Yingge Ceramics Museum in Taiwan, and Guangdong Museum of Art, China. Her piece Music serves as the cover image of the book Utopic Impulses: Contemporary Ceramics Practice, edited by Ruth Chambers, Amy Gogarty & Mireille Perron (Ronsdale Press 2007).

In addition, Ho’s work has been widely reviewed and referenced in art journals and books. She has mastered traditional ceramic making techniques developed in Jingdezhen China, as well as new ceramic techniques such as digital decal printing. Ho is an internationally recognized expert on the ancient Chinese techniques of porcelain ceramic making, which are still practiced in the city of Jingdezhen, China.

Her continuous on-site research in Jingdezhen has allowed her to create porcelain projects using the clays, underglaze, glazes and firing methods utilized for centuries at Jingdezhen. Ho’s unique cultural background as a Chinese immigrant and her connection with Jingdezhen enable her to create ceramic sculptures using traditional Chinese firing techniques and materials, and infuse them within a contemporary sensibility. Her work reflects the international nature of her life experience and resonates with the complexity of contemporary global culture. Her artworks are known for their classical forms and their manipulation resulting in unique, new forms reminiscent of cubism and abstract expressionism.

Since 2002, Ho has taught at Southeastern Louisiana State University in Hammond; Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design in Vancouver; Alberta College of Art and Design in Calgary; Concordia University in Montreal, Québec; and Queens College, CUNY. Her awards include the San Angelo National Ceramic Competition Merit Award, Canada Council Grant for the Canada Year of Asian Pacific, Canada Council of the Art Research and Development Grant, Canada Council of the Art Production Grant and the Research Foundation of The City University of New York Research Grant.

Sin-ying Ho currently lives in Flushing, Queens, NY. She is assistant professor in the Art Department of Queens College, City University of New York.