When Shiya Zeng was invited by NCECA (National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts) to highlight her work for the Cultivating Community series, a striking absence became clear — the underrepresentation of queer ceramicists of color in Utah. This absence, Zeng observed, wasn’t due to a lack of talent, but rather a lack of resources and spaces dedicated to supporting these artists. “They aren’t represented in the ceramic space currently due to lack of access to clay and with removing the barrier, you can see them shine.”

Determined to change this situation, Zeng organized Experimenting, an exhibition showcasing the work of 13 queer and trans multidisciplinary artists of color who explored clay through a six-month community program.

Shiya Zeng. Image courtesy of the artist.

Zeng’s own background informs her dedication to building inclusive creative spaces. A multidisciplinary who immigrated to Utah with her family from rural China in the early 2000s, Zeng explores her Taishanese heritage through ceramics and illustration. In her 2024 exhibit at Salt Lake City’s Finch Lane Gallery, Past, Present, and Future, she shaped everyday objects from childhood memories into powerful narratives, illustrating the delicate balance between cultural preservation and adaptation and that revealing the struggles and resilience of Utah’s Chinese community (see our review).

For the past six months, Zeng gathered the Experimenting artists weekly on Sundays to create, collaborate and connect. While the focus was on working with clay, the sessions became more than that. “We shared ideas and inspiration, helped troubleshoot problems and expanded beyond questions about clay—sharing resources and knowledge about how to be a working artists, how to apply for grants and residencies and how to overcome obstacles we face as artists.”

“This workshop significantly shifted my approach,” says Alli Arocho, a Salt Lake City artist whose work is also at Salt Lake Community College through March 27. “Witnessing Shiya’s confident handling of the medium, along with the spontaneous creativity of artists who were new to clay, helped me loosen up and break free from my rigid approach to solving design problems in ceramics.”

Alli Arocho, “Creature Rattle,” 2025, Porcelain, 4x3x3 in.

The exhibition’s themes of joy emerged naturally from this sense of community and resilience from working with clay. Pieces cracked, shattered, or emerged from the kiln unrecognizable from what the artist had envisioned. But that’s the nature of clay—that it isn’t within your control,” Zeng says. “Most of them made and remade their pieces, learning new skills and fine-tuning techniques along the way. Some embraced the imperfection of their work and accepted the beauty in that.”

Many of the works on display reflect the artists’ cultural identities and lived experiences. Drawing inspiration from ancestral traditions and personal histories, the pieces resonate with a sense of heritage while embracing experimentation and discovery.

For Zeng, Experimenting serves as a call to action. She hopes the project will inspire others to create spaces for artists from underrepresented backgrounds, recognizing that removing barriers to access leads to richer, more diverse creative voices. “Queer, intersectional spaces are essential sanctuaries in any community, yet they’re few and far between in Salt Lake City,” says Arocho. “This workshop aimed to cultivate a new wave of QTBIPOC artists, and being part of that effort felt vitally important. Seeing the work that these emerging ceramists are capable of has convinced me that they will bring invaluable perspectives to our already vibrant local ceramics community.”

“I hope that this exhibition can inspire more people to create spaces and community where they can,” Zeng says. “I hope others when they see an issue that needs to be addressed, that they can be motivated to create those spaces, to address it head on. Creating spaces for artists from non traditional backgrounds and removing inaccessibility will always benefit more people and lead to better work.”

Beyond her own artistic practice, Zeng is a dedicated advocate for Utah’s Pan-Asian community. As a co-organizer of Asian Art Nite and a leader with groups like the Chinese Railroad Workers’ Descendants Association and the Asian Association of Utah, Zeng has long worked to build spaces where marginalized voices are heard.

Experimenting features work that came out of a six-month workshop led by Salt Lake City-artist Shiya Zeng. Image courtesy of Shiya Zeng.

Experimenting, Under the Umbrella Bookstore, Salt Lake City, through May 3. NCECA Reception, Thursday, March 27, 6-9PM.

Shawn Rossiter

The founder of Artists of Utah and editor of its online magazine, 15 Bytes, Shawn Rossiter has undergraduate degrees in English, French and Italian Literature and studied Comparative Literature in graduate school before pursuing a career in art.