ARTIST STATEMENT
As a cancer doctor and researcher, I have witnessed the healing powers of modern medicine. As a ceramic artist, I have witnessed the same for art.
As censorship and oppression have entered science in the United States, clay has become my freedom. Freedom to create unencumbered. Freedom to speak unafraid (actually, I’m doing this scared). And freedom to resist. Through hand built resistance art made in the San Francisco Bay Area, I write truths into stone(ware) so they cannot be erased. Through my Uncensored flutter bowl series, I handwrite banned words in gold luster to remind us all of their value.
In 2025, if I use these words in a federal grant proposal, I risk my grant being withdrawn and not being considered for funding. We have learned very creative ways to say the exact same thing without these words because our research to improve the lives and health of all people cannot be stopped. I will continue making Uncensored flutter bowls until we have scientific freedom again.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Melisa of MWY Pottery is a lung cancer doctor, researcher, and ceramic artist in the San Francisco Bay Area. She was born in Malaysia and grew up in Southern California. While Melisa only started her pottery journey in 2023 as a 40th birthday present to herself, she’s been creative her whole life—sewing tiny clothes for her knockoff Barbies and exploring different forms of craft while trying not to burn her fingertips with hot glue. Her work has been exhibited by the Palo Alto Art Center, Charlie Cummings Gallery, and Sausalito Center for the Arts. Melisa is a member of the Asian American Women Artists Association and Association of Clay and Glass Artists of California. She has been interviewed about her approach to pottery as a side saunterer—her term for a side hustler but without the hustle—on The Maker’s Playbook Podcast. In late January 2025, in response to the atrocities against immigrants across the US, Melisa started a weekly Instagram story series to highlight and celebrate immigrant ceramic artists in the US. Her new favorite step of making is stamping “IMMIGRANT MADE next to her maker’s mark. In addition, Melisa leverages her art to fundraise for nonprofits to support human rights. This part of her studio practice is critical to turn art into a call for action.
© Melisa of MWY Pottery