Lavande Chou
Lavande Chou (born 1979, Taichung County, Taiwan) has always had one foot in the creative world and the other in adventure.
Chou started her studies in social work at Soochow University, Taiwan, the same day as the 7.6 magnitude earthquake that shook the center part of the island nation in 1999. Chou remembers her instructors all missing from class because they were busy responding to some of the 100,000 people left homeless due to the disaster. Her own family lost their home in Taichung County. Although she did not become a social worker, she harbored a love of learning that still drives her to this day.
Chou got her start in the arts by working in the 3-D animation industry when it was just starting to take off. She took government sponsored courses (3D Max in 2001, Maya in 2003), which ultimately lead her to work in the industry. Taiwan is one of the main creative hubs to produce work for Disney and other behemoths in the animation film industry. The artist worked for a private company for several years, but became disillusioned with the business after it became clear that the animators were seen as anonymous vehicles for production. This inspired her to start her own studio in Taipei in 2008. There she taught drawing and the fundamentals of art, as well as 3-D animation at Sheng-te Christian College in Taoyuan City and Dayeh University in Changhua County. Chou kept this studio for nearly a decade.
In 2014 Chou studied jewelry making at the Jewelry institute of Taiwan. The year after she received a diploma in gemology from The Gemological Association of Great Britain. She traveled back and forth between Taiwan and Chicago the following years to maintain a relationship (someone she met at an anatomy sculpture workshop in San Francisco), as well as continue to take classes in painting and printing. Chou kept her base in the Midwest, and made trips back to her studio in Taipei through out those years. To add to her already full life, she took her new knowledge of gemology and went hunting for gems in Burma and Sri Lanka. After getting an up-close view (and a few good finds) of the torturous conditions the local miners worked in, she decided the industry was too heartless for her. She closed that chapter of her life, and resolved to look elsewhere for income and adventure.
The year 2017 became a major turning point for Chou. She lost her relationship and studio in Taipei all within the same week. Sad and rudderless, she took special notice of an ad she received from the Academy of Art University, based in San Francisco. She decided this master’s degree in sculpture online might be a way to move forward. One of the first classes she took was titled “portfolio.” What she didn’t realize was that the instructor expected to see a collection of preexisting work, something she didn’t have yet. Instead of quitting, she decided to push her creative concepts forward. She started working with wire and oil clay, and quickly flushed out feelings and concepts. A story slowly started to come together for the artist, one that started in loss and destruction but ends in rebirth. Her master’s project was the perfect place to explore this empowering tale. This past year-and-a-half, Chou has expanded her story of a female robot that falls into the sea and slowly crumbles away under the elements. Sea creatures take the bubbles that the robot gives off and disperse them. Even though the robot is no more, she is reborn on land and becomes a tree, signifying a new, and stronger beginning.
Chou arrived at Lincoln Square Pottery Studio – Learning Center in 2018 after her new partner suggested she use the space to develop her many visual ideas. She arrived ready to create, and swiftly started producing multiple projects, all off-shoots of her story idea. It’s not unusual to find pieces of robots, swimming fish and feet with coral all resting on the studio’s bisque and glaze shelves. A series of animals featuring gears and industrial elements have all graced the Wall of Flame at the studio. Their story is also tied into annihilation and rebirth. Chou has taken a paper making and welding course through AAU this year, and the same poignant concept of survival and freedom persist. Ultimately, she wishes to convey that even if you are repressed, your mind is yours, and will always remain free. As she explores the many creative outlets of her story, she gains experience as an accomplished artist, as well as being able to grow and thrive after a difficult time in her life. We look forward to seeing the multiple pieces that will form her final project, as well as her growing happiness.
