About Caoyu Studio

Hi! I'm Maggie, the person behind Caoyu Studio. Ceramics has been my hobby, interest, major, and passion throughout my life, ever since I took a pottery class back when I was 7. Currently, I live in Knoxville, Tennessee and have my studio at a small community ceramics collective called Mighty Mud. I received my MFA in Ceramic Design from Tsinghua University in Beijing, China, the first American to ever do so. I received my Ph. D in studio ceramics from Tokyo University of the Fine Arts in Tokyo, Japan, and only the second American to do that. I like to say that I am classically trained in high craft. That means every object made by Caoyu Studio is a unique work of art, unlike any you will find anywhere else.The foundation of my practice is play, that is to say, a playful conversation between me and my materials and techniques. I don't start from a fixed conceptual point, but rather let the processes talk to me and allow myself to respond to them. I pass that conversation on to you. My work might be unlike other pottery you are used to seeing, but I guarantee that if you give it time and sit with the object, it will pull you and reveal itself to you.