Rising Stars: Meet Catalina Cheng

Today we’d like to introduce you to Catalina Cheng.

Hi Catalina, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I started making and selling my art in elementary school. I would sell clay sculptures and drawings for quarters. I started my business selling art online in 2011. I’ve been posting my work on social media since then too. More people started seeing my work as publications like buzz feed and my local newspaper shared my art. I was making drawings, clay sculptures, screen prints, clothes, and soft sculptures. By 2015 I had sold art in every continent (except Antarctica). I started ceramics in high school then I went to business school and continued to pursue art. I slowly accumulated equipment to make ceramics. Now I have my own wheel and kiln and I’ve created a home studio. I mostly sell work directly online as well as through gallery spaces. I’ve exhibited my work in New York, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Pittsburgh, Tampa and I have an international exhibition I am working on this year. I love to share my work and connect with others who can resonate with what I do. Last year I was interviewed by architectural digest and I recently spoke at Carnegie Mellon University about my practice. My highest honor is hearing from teachers and students around the world tell me they are learning/teaching about my art in school. I hope to continue creating and spreading art and love across the globe.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I have been very lucky and fortunate to have such strong community of supporters in my life. No one has ever told me I cannot achieve my dreams. I cannot and should not complain.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I make objects that are heartwarming, humorous, and inspire a sense of sentimentality. Using bright colors, cartoons, and imaginary creatures to evoke a daydreamy universe that rebels against traditionally “serious” art media and the heteronormative gaze. I include irreverent phrases and punchy one-liners, my work can be at times very literal—this is GAY ART made by a GAY ARTIST. But sometimes it takes on a gentler tone, with messages of care and lovesickness and romanticism. Collectively, my art is an emotional record of what it’s like to navigate the world as a queer, Colombian, Chinese first-generation American. Many of my most recent pieces pull from traditional blue and white Chinese pottery, and others are emblazoned with Spanish adages from childhood. My hope is that my art incites the joy that I feel when creating it. I work in many mediums like printmaking, illustration, textiles, design, photography, video, animation but nothing is as process-intensive and time-consuming as ceramics.

I started focusing more on ceramics in high school around 2014 and have been pursuing this form ever since. My latest works featuring traditional porcelain themes and designs that are very sentimental and familiar to me. Growing up, my Colombian grandma had a collection of blue and white porcelain wares and even had porcelain-themed wallpaper covering her home. Some of my earliest memories are where I draw my inspiration from. When I create these pieces, I am able to connect with my culture and follow the same steps as all the artisans before me. I enjoy that my designs have the same look as something from the Qing Dynasty, but I put my own contemporary spin with my own concepts and narratives. I think about how I am able to make these pots and express myself in ways that historically queer people haven’t been able to do as openly before. Sometimes my pieces rely on symbolism (some symbols are just inside jokes with myself) but in case they aren’t obvious, I’ll write “[These figures] are gay” just to make sure it doesn’t get misinterpreted.

What matters most to you? Why?
What’s most important to me is being able to create exactly the type of work I want to make without dictation from anyone else. To stay true and authentic to myself and my experience. That is what “success” to me means as an artist. Not money or fame, but to be free to do what I want with my art without having a boss or corporation telling me to change it, tone it down, or cater to certain audiences.

Pricing:

• Some of my pieces can be pricey which is why I try to make things accessible to everyone at each price point. I sell stickers and prints staring at $3, shirts for $30, while some of my ceramics range from $100-$5,000

Contact Info:

• Website: https://catalinacheng.square.site/s/shop
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/catalina_cheng/

Image Credits
Catalina Cheng Wallice Watanabe