Jeremy Plotkin Wong

Jeremy Plotkin Wong is a sculptor and ceramicist from Connecticut, currently based in Chicago. His distinctive practice began to take shape while studying at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. There, his interest in how people interact with objects led him to evolve his wheel-thrown forms into sculptural caricatures of the body. He compares the relationship between himself and his work to that of a choreographer and a dancer: collaborative, intuitive, and physical. His primary medium is clay, due to its ability to come alive through direct touch; his practice also extends to multimedia sculpture. Influenced by sources as diverse as Chinese decorative arts, funk ceramics, and pop icons like Betty Boop and the Muppets, Plotkin Wong’s work is rooted in humor and whimsy, engaging with the uncanny language of the vessel. The exploration of the corporal form and ceramic functionality culminated in his ongoing body of work made of pieces he calls “My Servers”. They are eyelash-adorned vessels that unapologetically “serve” more face than function. Drawing on the queer colloquialism “to serve” (meaning to look good, fashionable, or confident), the works play with ideas of presentation, power, and performance. These figures straddle a space between empowerment and vulnerability, embodying a playful yet poignant tension between objecthood and personhood. Plotkin Wong’s vessels provoke a curious emotional response — viewers may find themselves anthropomorphizing the forms, sensing flirtation in their exaggerated curves and stylized features. Though they pose as eccentric vases, their effect is unmistakably human. In animating these forms, Plotkin Wong offers a kind of autonomy to the objectified. As he puts it, “Fantasy becomes a powerful tool to reimagine and reflect our reality; it is a respite for those dissatisfied with their surroundings.”