Michelle Im

Michelle Im (b. Atlanta, GA) is a Korean-American ceramic artist based in Queens, NY. She is a 2024 Artist Fellow at the Museum of Art & Design and is an award recipient of the Teaching Artist Cohort, Center for Craft (2023); Emerging Artist Cohort, American Craft Council (2022); and Ceramics Monthly Emerging Artist (2022). Her residencies and fellowships include Township10 (2024); Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts (Guest Artist, 2023); Penland School of Craft (Distinguished Fellowship, 2023); and Archie Bray Foundation for the Ceramic Arts (Visiting Artist, 2022). Im has exhibited at the Northern Clay Center, Minneapolis, MN (2023); Friends Artspace, Arlington, VA (2022); Swivel Gallery, Brooklyn, NY (2023); Strada, New York, NY (2023); Jane Hartsook Gallery, New York, NY (2023); and Wing on Wo & Co, New York, NY (2019). She holds a BA in Biological Sciences & Art from the University of Buffalo, SUNY and is a faculty member at Greenwich House Pottery.

When I picture a dragon like many others, I picture a ferocious creature breathing fire. With conflict that surrounds us both in our pe rsonal lives and in the world at large, I thought about how we all have the power to both start a fire and put it out. I imagined a vessel that animates the dragon as a teapot that holds the power to foster meaningful dialogue and compassionate regard for humanity through the simple act of pouring tea for another.