Anna Sew Hoy’s assemblage is an organic, porous mass of fired ceramic knots, beads, charms, entwined rope, and chains. For One Way or Another, she has produced Dreamcatcher, inspired by unconscious states of being. Though her creations appear random in their composition, Hoy actually constructs her fantastical sculptures by drawing on traditions of Japanese Ikebana, meticulous flower and foliage arranging. She upends any traditionally balanced arrangement here though, and is rather interested in the clash between the handmade, the natural, and the mass produced.

One might notice references to traditional Chinese scholar’s rocks within Hoy’s ceramic installations. While she looks to some visual precedents from China and Japan, her work simultaneously offers a sampling of transnational and pop culture images and art historical commentary.

Excerpt from artist’s statement

“The detritus of modern life is organized into something dynamic, energetic, moody, and turbulent. I work by smashing, slapping, and cobbling things together by collage. Any object or material may be used, such as perfume bottles, sweaters, furniture, toys, or charms. I zoom in on the object and try to give it a new life, realize its potential to be transformed and to achieve new meaning or significance.”

Anna Sew Hoy was born in 1976 in Auckland, New Zealand. She lives and works in Los Angeles.