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ahn lee 李安

@ahnleestudio

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🐛Queer & Cantonese 🍊
✨Artist & Ceramic Studio Manager
🌉Oakland & Chinatown, SF

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Thought it was time for a little reintroduction! 👋🏼

I’m Ahn, a queer Cantonese artist and researcher based in the Bay Area. I work with ceramics, crystalline glaze, and mulberry paper, remaking inherited histories, materials, and symbols through my own experiences to think about diaspora, transformation, and queer Cantonese futures.

🐛 Since 2020, I’ve been raising and researching silkworms and their connections to the Cantonese diaspora—thinking through mulberry, migration, labor, transformation, and home.

🐕 I also remake Chinese mythical creatures and symbols, like guardian lions and nine-tailed foxes, through a queer lens—letting them become strange, tender, playful, and a little bit gay.

💎 Since 2024, I’ve been developing and formulating my own crystalline glazes. My research into these glazes has led me back to the extraordinary crystalline effects developed in Chinese ceramics, particularly during the Song dynasty, and to questions about how that history is—or isn’t—carried into contemporary American ceramics.

When I’m not making my own work, I teach ceramics and work one-on-one with other artists to help them develop their practices.

Anyway, welcome to my little corner of the internet! 💚

📷 Jeremy Chiu taken in Oakland, California by @ahnleestudio

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a month ago

My first public art exhibition with the City of Berkeley is coming to a close!

Some of my largest ceramic works have been taking up Cube Space in Berkeley since February.

Open 24/7 at 2010 Addison Street, curated by Kevin B. Chen @kevin_b_chen

Photos by @grunder taken in Berkeley, California by @ahnleestudio

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6 months ago

My two-year crystalline glaze journey! Swipe to see where I started 😅🥲😂

In Jan 2024 at the Bemis Residency (Omaha) I took Matt Katz’s online 12-week Crystal Ball class, then dove deep—books, comparing base recipes, and lots of testing. With key materials impossible to source since 2020, many old crystalline formulas didn’t translate. So, with no prior chemistry background, I learned the chemistry and built new glaze recipes from what’s actually accessible now.

A lot of crystalline glaze chemists use Cone 10 reduction glazes, but without access to the resources to regularly fire a cone 10 kiln (money, gas prices in California, etc) I also had to overcome the roadblock of working only in the midfire cone 5-6 range.

I have probably done many hundreds of tests at this point to create the 3 glazes that I am proud of, and I’m still working hard to create other colors/variants of my base glaze.

In the early photos, you can see just some of my weird results lol from wacky crystals, to tiny “micro” crystals, to too few crystals, or even too many crystals (which makes it hard to decipher what is a crystal and what is not).

I’ve tested different clay bodies, shapes, and realized recently what a huge difference a 10 minute hold can make! HUGE thank you to @ianchilders for this tip!!!

All this to say that I really did the most when I decided to go down this rabbit hole😅. BUT I’m so proud of my journey. Crystalline glazes originated in China and as far as I know I’m the only ceramicist in the US that has developed their own crystalline glazes for sculptural work, in addition to pots!! Please correct me if I’m wrong though I’d love a friend 🥲

And yet I’ve never been accepted to an @nceca show or fellowship lolol 😭

In early next year I’ll be sharing some of my larger sculptural pieces with my crystalline glazes. 💞 taken in Oakland, California by @ahnleestudio

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10 months ago

Nine-Tailed Fox, 2026 Porcelain and artist-formulated crystalline glaze 24 × 16 × 12 inches

My sister and I have matching nine-tailed fox tattoos, so I think this creature has been waiting to enter my work for a long time. 🦊

The nine-tailed fox has lived many lives across Chinese mythology—as an auspicious being, shapeshifter, seductress, monster, and powerful feminine spirit.

I’m drawn to the way femme power becomes monstrous when it refuses to be controlled.

Rather than illustrating a particular myth, I wanted to make my own creature: strange, beautiful, excessive, dangerous, tender. A fox who transforms, refuses obedience, and holds her power on her own terms.

I built her by hand in porcelain, including all nine tails, then covered the surface in crystalline glazes I formulate myself. Swipe to see her before the kiln + some of the carving that went into the base.

She’s part of the queer Cantonese folklore I’m slowly building through my work. 💗

Photos by Jeremy Chiu @umamiboy taken in Oakland, California by @ahnleestudio

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10 days ago

Cocoon, 2020 Porcelain, Jun glaze, fishing line, electrical metal tubing, light 4 × 4 × 8 feet

Recently exhibited at Palo Alto Art Center @paloaltoartcenter as part of “Thrown, Stamped, Stacked, and Poured: Ceramic Installation and Performance” June-August 2026 curated by John Toki @johntokiart

Cocoon received the 2021 Murphy Award, presented by SOMArts @somarts and curated by Kevin Chen @kevin_b_chen .

A very special thank you to UC Berkeley Art Practice, especially Ehren Tool @ehrentool and Nicki Green @nickigreenstudio , who supported me through the weeds of figuring out how to actually make this giant thing in Fall 2020. 💗

For exhibition, acquisition, or permanent placement inquiries: ahnleestudio.com

🐛

I made Cocoon during my first semester of my MFA at UC Berkeley in Fall 2020. It’s eight feet tall and made from around 700 individually handcrafted porcelain surgical masks.

The piece began with my research into the federally-funded Piedmont Silk Experiment in Oakland. In the late 1800s, Mrs. Hittle promoted American silkworm farming as a response to Chinese immigration, calling on Americans to “awake to action.”

In 2020, I found her writings in the Bancroft Library archives and began raising silkworms from populations living on mulberry trees in Oakland—possibly connected to trees planted for these early silk experiments.

Raising those silkworms as a queer Cantonese person, more than a century later, felt like a quiet rebuttal.

At the same time, I was watching the surgical mask transform—from something that could identify protesters in Hong Kong, to protection during COVID, to an object caught up in anti-Chinese racism here in the Bay Area.

Cocoon came out of all of these histories colliding: silkworms, Cantonese migration, Hong Kong, protection, racialization, death, resurrection, and transformation.

Six years later, I’m still thinking about what this piece holds—and hoping it eventually finds a permanent home. 💗 taken in Oakland, California by @ahnleestudio

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23 days ago

I’m popping up at Third Culture Bakery in Berkeley!! 🍵💚 @thirdculturebakery

I’ll be bringing a whole bunch of one-of-a-kind crystalline ceramics—plates + more—all made by hand with crystalline glazes I formulate myself. ✨

Come hang out, see the crystal glaze in person, drink some matcha, eat some mochi donuts and say hi!! 💕

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 26 11 AM–4 PM Third Culture Bakery, Berkeley

See you there!! 🍵✨ taken in Berkeley, California by @ahnleestudio

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a month ago

Foster Fail 🥹💗

I made 10 Fu Pups this summer and fully intended for them all to find new homes.

Then Wonton (Pup #2) came out of the kiln and…I kept putting them aside. 🥲 Apparently they decided I was their person, so Wonton is staying home with me!! 💗🥹

And now there are only THREE Fu Pups left looking for forever homes!! 🐕💕

💘 Pickle
💗 Lychee
🍊 Tangerine

Swipe to meet the last three + read their adoption profiles!!

They’re still available at ahnleestudio.com/store 💚

Thank you SO much to everyone who adopted a pup yesterday 😭💕 I can’t believe how quickly this little family found their homes.

Fu Pup photos by @umamiboy taken in Oakland, California by @ahnleestudio

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a month ago

THE FU PUPS ARE HERE!!! 💕

After spending my summer hand-sculpting this little family, the Fu Pups are officially ready to find their forever homes 🥹💚

Each Fu Pup is completely one of a kind, handbuilt in porcelain with crystalline glaze formulated by me and tiny emerald eyes. They’re my playful reimagining of Chinese guardian lions—little guardians of love, romance, happiness, and double happiness 囍.

💚 Subscriber adoptions are OPEN NOW!
Check your inbox for the private shop link + password.

🐕 Public adoptions open TODAY at 5 PM PT.

I’ve gotten way too attached to these weird little creatures over the last few months 😭 I’m so excited to see who you fall in love with and where they end up.

Happy adoption day!!! 🐕💕

ahnleestudio.com/store

#FuPups #CeramicArt #Ceramics #Porcelain #Sculpture QueerArt ChineseAmericanArtist ContemporaryCeramics taken in Oakland, California by @ahnleestudio

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DUMPLING IS LOOKING FOR A FOREVER HOME 🥟💕

Name: Dumpling Breed: Fu Pup Age: Perfectly squishy Temperament: Sweet, dependable, very pleased with themself Occupation: Guardian of comfort + happy homes

Dumpling is here for the cozy kind of love.
They’re happiest around good food, good company, and people who actually like spending time together. Their main responsibility is making sure your home has enough affection, comfort, and happiness in it.

Dumpling isn’t particularly interested in drama. They would much rather sit nearby, keep watch over everyone they love, and make sure nobody leaves hungry.

Dumpling is one of ten Fu Pups looking for a forever home on September 17. Hand-sculpted porcelain with crystalline glaze + emerald eyes.

💚 Subscribers adopt first at 10 AM PT 🐕 General adoptions open at 5 PM PT

Subscribe: ahnleestudio.com/subscribe

Photo by Jeremy Chiu @umamiboy by @ahnleestudio

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The Fu Pups are coming September 17! 🐕💚

I’ve been working on this little litter of 10 since May, and I’m so excited that they’re finally almost ready to find their homes.
Pictured here are Peaches (Pup #1), Lychee (Pup #4), Poppy (Pup #6), and Lucky (Pup #9) 💕

Each Fu Pup is sculpted by hand in porcelain and completely one of a kind, with crystalline glaze formulated by me and AAA-grade emerald eyes.

One of my favorite parts of working with crystalline glaze is how much gets decided in the kiln—the crystals grow differently across every surface, so even when I use the same glaze, no two pups ever come out quite the same.

The Fu Pups are my playful reimagining of Chinese guardian lions, traditionally associated with protection and prosperity. I wanted to take these inherited guardians and make them a little smaller, stranger, sweeter, and more tender—little guardians of love, romance, happiness, and double happiness 囍.

The Fu Pups will be released online September 17.

💚 Subscribers get first pick at 10 AM PT 🐕 Public release at 5 PM PT

If you want first dibs, you can join my mailing list at ahnleestudio.com/subscribe

📸 Photos by Jeremy Chiu @umamiboy taken in Oakland, California by @ahnleestudio

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Still can’t believe we pulled this off 🥹❤️‍🔥🤯 especially amidst all the other huge life things that happened to us this year.

Working on this giant project with Jaycee was a dream. They’re such an incredible partner for life projects in ways I didn’t even fully realize 🤯 Having someone I completely trust and never have to micromanage—which, if you know me, is saying A LOT 😂—is such a gift.

After the wedding, I kept thinking about how I made the best partner decision ever 🥹❤️ I’m so grateful I get to do all the big, complicated, ridiculous, beautiful life projects with this person!!!

And an extra huge thank you to our wedding parties for taking all our detailed plans and executing them day-of TO A T 😭❤️ You made it possible for us to be present and enjoy the day. We couldn’t have pulled it off without you 🥹

Still in awe that all these tiny details came together into one very big day 💘💘

Photos by @jennwong_ftw 💕 taken in Oakland, California by @ahnleestudio

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