Chenlu Hou Artist-In-Residence Lecture

The artist Chenlou Hou stands peeking out from behind one of her colorful ceramic and mixed media sculptures. She is wearing a black shirt.

Date and Time

September 29, 2025
05:00PM - 06:00PM EDT

Location

Harvard Ed Portal

Join us for a free lecture with Ceramics Program 2025-26 Artist-In-Residence, Chenlu Hou. This lecture will be held in-person at the Harvard Ed Portal (right next door to the Ceramics Program studio) with a Zoom option.

Chenlu Hou’s imaginative sculptures draw inspiration from Chinese folk art, ceremonial objects, and moments from her daily life. Blending personal memories with reinterpretations of traditional storytelling, Hou creates a distinctive artistic language that weaves together sharp decorative elements and narrative suggestions. Her hand-built ceramic works explore the intricate relationships between human, animal, and plant forms, inviting viewers into layered worlds where the boundaries between myth, memory, and lived experience blur. Born in Shandong, China, Chenlu Hou is a ceramic artist based in Providence, Rhode Island. She received her MFA in Ceramics from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2019 and has completed residencies at the Museum of Arts and Design, Penland School of Craft, Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, and the Archie Bray Foundation. She is currently a Visiting Critic in Ceramics at RISD.

Photo credit: Beatriz Meseguer, On White Wall

Clay sculpture by Chenlu Hou. A stylized profile of a dog sitting, in black with orange details and illustration of a human holding an object overhead on its front leg. A red orb is in its mouth.

Chenlu Hou, 2024. Tian Gou Shi Ri - The truth about solar eclipse and how to observe it using pinhole imaging principle 
Terracotta, underglaze, zip-ties, high-temp wire hooks. Slab hand-built, air-brushed surface with underglaze. Photo credit: Charles Benton

ceramic sculpture of a person diving into the water, in soft tones of lavender, yellow, and teal

Chenlu Hou, 2023. A long-haired figure diving into the water to grasp the reflection of the moon 
Terracotta, underglaze, zip-ties, high-temp wire hooks. Slab hand-built, air-brushed surface with underglaze. Photo credit: Charles Benton

a ceramic sculpture by Chenlou Hou, in pale blue with yellow accents. the title is "In memory of the auntie with a gold tooth who butchered a carp right in front of you" and it is symmetric composition of abstracted carp facing each other with smaller ornaments dangling and attached with high temperature wire.

Chenlu Hou, 2023. In memory of the auntie with a gold tooth who butchered a carp right in front of you 
Terracotta, underglaze, zip-ties, high-temp wire hooks, hand-cut polypropylene. Slab hand-built, air-brushed surface with underglaze. Photo credit: Charles Benton 

Registration Options

Accessibility

The Office for the Arts at Harvard Ceramics Program is committed to accessibility for all visitors. For anyone requiring accessibility accommodations for this event, please contact ceramics@fas.harvard.edu at least 2 weeks in advance. Please include the name and date of the program in the subject line of your email.