Full CV

Emily Yong Beck (b. 1999, Daegu, South Korea) is an interdisciplinary ceramic artist who received her BFA from the School of the Art Institute in 2021. Beck’s work has been featured in the solo exhibitions at Gaa Gallery Provincetown, MA, New Image Art, Los Angeles, CA, Lefebvre et Fils, Paris, FR, and The Pit, Los Angeles, CA. Beck has been awarded residences at Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts, Newcastle, ME, Township10, Marshall, NC, The Residency Program, Versaille, FR. Beck lives and works in Chicago, IL. 

Beck’s ceramic practice focuses on the examination of histories within ceramics, and how craft can be weaponized as tools for propaganda. The use of cartoons in her most recent body of work is driven by an investigation of propaganda through familiarity and cuteness. Cartoons are able to convey messages to viewers in a quick, simple, and fun way which makes the use of cartoons effective in rapid distribution of national propaganda. In her work Beck strives to bring light to historical erasure due to imagery perceived as harmless, while at the same time leaning into the nostalgic warmth of familiar characters.