Unearthed is on view at the Orange County Museum of Art, Costa Mesa
January 31 – May 25, 2025
The Orange County Museum of Art (OCMA) is pleased to present Unearthed, a group exhibition rooted in the idea that transforming raw materials like clay into ceramic through heat mirrors, on a smaller scale, the geological processes that have shaped the Earth’s crust over millennia. Bringing together a collection of artists: Alex Anderson, Shuyi Cao, Tony Marsh, Keita Matsunaga, Yuji Ueda, and Masaomi Yasunaga, the exhibition explores ceramics’ intrinsic connection to land, place, and geology, tracing not only the origins of the medium, but also the processes that shape its form.
Transforming raw materials like clay into ceramics through heat mirrors, on a smaller scale, the geological processes that have shaped Earth’s crust over millennia. This idea—that ceramics originate from materials extracted from the earth and are formed through heat—serves as the foundation of Unearthed, which brings together artists exploring the medium’s intrinsic connections to land, place, and geology.
Using materials such as clay deposits, mineral-rich rocks, and silica sands—whether employed as the primary medium or as points of reference to simulate, record, or reimagine geological and territorial changes—Unearthed traces not only the origins of ceramics but also the processes that shape its forms. The works in the exhibition carry embedded narratives of deep time and material histories, evoking the interplay of tectonic forces, compression, and fracture that sculpt the planet’s surface. Evolving through firing, the artworks become records of their own making, capturing the tension between fragility and permanence while oscillating between states of being found and being made.
Unearthed invites us to recognize ceramics as a practice rooted in a shared history shaped by both human and natural forces, emphasizing the increasingly vital collaboration between them in today’s world.
Unearthed is organized by Ziying Duan, Assistant Curator, with support from Courtenay Finn, Chief Curator & Director of Programs, Albert Lopez, Installation Director, and the entire OCMA staff. Running concurrently is Searching the Sky for Gold, the first solo museum exhibition outside Asia by acclaimed artist Su Yu-Xin (b. 1991, Hualien, Taiwan).
About the Artists
Alex Anderson (b.1990, Seattle, WA) received his Bachelor of Arts in Studio Art and Chinese from Swarthmore College, PA and his Master of Fine Arts in Ceramics from the University of California, Los Angeles, CA. Anderson previously studied at the Jingdezhen Ceramic Institute in Jingdezhen, China and was awarded a Fulbright Grant in affiliation with the China Academy of Art in Hangzhou, where he continued his studies in ceramic art. His work has been exhibited internationally, and across the United States, including at Human Resources, Los Angeles, CA, The Long Beach Museum of Art, Long Beach, CA, the American Museum of Ceramic Art, Pomona, CA, Deli Gallery, New York, NY, Gavlak Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, Palm Beach, FL, and Jeffery Deitch Gallery, New York, NY, amongst others.
Shuyi Cao (b.1990, Guangzhou, China) is a New York-based artist whose practice explores alchemical approaches to material, matter and knowledge osmosis. She received a Bachelor of Laws, an MA in Public Administration from Fudan University in Shanghai, China and an MFA in Fine Arts from Parsons School of Design, New York, NY. Her work has been shown internationally, including recent solo show Ardor for Unconformity (2024) at 11th Biennale nationale de sculpture contemporaine, Quebec, Canada, Undercurrent Softness (2023) at Hive Center for Contemporary Art, Shanghai, China, and duo show Strange Stranger (2023) at Para Site, Hong Kong. She is a visiting assistant professor at Pratt Institute and founder of Transmaterial Lab.
Tony Marsh (b. 1954, New York, NY) lives and works in San Pedro, CA. Marsh earned his BFA in Ceramics at California State University, Long Beach, CA (CSULB) in 1978. After graduating he spent three years in Mashiko, Japan at the workshop of Tatsuzo Shimaoka, who was designated a “Living National Treasure.” Marsh completed his MFA at The New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University, Alfred Station, NY in 1988. He teaches in the Ceramic Arts Program at CSULB where he has been the Program Chair for over twenty years. He is the first Director of the Center for Contemporary Ceramics at CSULB. Marsh has exhibited at public institutions including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA; the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, Missouri; Crocker Museum of Art, Sacramento, CA; and the Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, NY. His major retrospective exhibition Brilliant Earth: The Ceramic Sculpture of Tony Marsh was organized by Long Beach Museum of Art, Long Beach, CA in 2022.
Keita Matsunaga (b. 1986, Tajimi, Japan) currently lives and works in both Tajimi and Kani in Gifu prefecture, Japan. The son of ceramists, his artistic training includes studying architecture at Meijo University, (2010), completing the Tajimi City Ceramics Design Laboratory (2013), and graduation from the Kanazawa Utsatsuyama Crafts Workshop (2016). Matsunaga has shown extensively across Japan in both a gallery setting and in biennales and has won several awards including the Takaoka Contemporary Craft Competition (2013). He was recently in residence at Center for Contemporary Ceramics, California State University, Long Beach, CA (CSULB).
Yuji Ueda (b. 1975, Shigaraki, Shiga Prefecture, Japan) comes from a family of award winning tea farmers in the Shiga Prefecture town of Shigaraki, Japan. After studying under potter Yasuhisa Kohyama, he continues to make pottery in his own wood-fired kiln in Shigaraki, one of the six oldest kilns in Japan. Through his experimentation with firing techniques, Ueda has created a unique process in which he employs whole blocks of Choseki feldspar or builds up irregular clay surfaces that can be fired in anagama kilns.
Masaomi Yasunaga (b.1982, Osaka Prefecture, Japan) lives and works in Iga-shi, Mie Prefecture, Japan. He has a Master’s Degree in Environmental Design from Osaka Sangyo University. Recent solo exhibitions include In Holding Close at Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Arts, Auburn, AL (2023), Looking Afar at Lisson Gallery, New York, NY (2022), Masaomi Yasunaga at Lisson Gallery, East Hampton, NY (2021); Empty Parade at wad Café, Osaka, Japan (2020); To things that exist, to things that don’t exist at gallery YDS, Kyoto, Japan (2020); Empty Landscape at Libby Leshgold Gallery, Vancouver, Canada (2020); Masaomi Yasunaga at Nonaka-Hill, Los Angeles, CA (2019); and Masaomi Yasunaga: A Shadow of the Eternity at Utsuwakan, Kyoto, Japan (2019). His work is included in the permanent collections of the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Arts, Auburn, AL, the Ariana Museum, Geneva, Switzerland and The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX.
Contact
info@ocma.art
Orange County Museum of Art
3333 Avenue of the Arts
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
United States
Captions
- Installation views, Unearthed, 2025. Orange County Museum of Art. Photos by Yubo Dong, ofstudio
- Alex Anderson, A place where you can watch it float away, 2024. Stoneware, glaze, 6 1/2 x 12 1/2 x 9 1/2 in (16.5 x 31.8 x 24.1 cm). Courtesy the artist
- Keita Matsunaga, Cocoon, 2023. Ceramic, urushi, 9 7/8 x 20 7/8 x 8 5/8 in (25 x 53 x 22 cm). Courtesy Nonaka-Hill
- Keita Matsunaga, Organism, 2019. Ceramic, glaze, decal, 4 3/4 x 4 1/2 x 4 3/8 in (12.1 x 11.4 x 11.1 cm). Courtesy Nonaka-Hill
- Masaomi Yasunaga, Mosaic Vessel, 2023. Glaze, colored glaze, titanium oxide, tile, slip, kaolin, 20 7/8 x 12 3/4 x 11 in (53 x 32.5 x 28 cm). Courtesy Nonaka-Hill
- Shuyi Cao, Alpine (2900 years), 2021. Stoneware, glazes, oxides, soft glass, 7 x 13 x 3 in (17.8 x 33 x 7.6 cm). Courtesy the artist
- Tony Marsh, Untitled, 2022. Multiple fired clay, glaze, 22 1/2 x 13 x 13 in (57 x 33 x 33 cm). Courtesy Albertz Benda, New York/ Los Angeles and the artist
- Tony Marsh, Neo-Crucible, 2022. Multiple fired clay, glaze, 21 1/2 x 18 x 18 in (54.6 x 45.7 x 45.7 cm). Collection of Orange County Museum of Art. Gift of John and Penelope Gunnin, 2023
- Shuyi Cao, Swamp (17 Year Underground), 2021. Stoneware, glazes, rocks, cicada slough, resin, 14 x 8 x 2 in (35.6 x 20.3 x 5.1 cm). Courtesy the artist
- Yuji Ueda, Untitled, 2024. Ceramic, 29 1/2 x 43 x 39 1/4 in (74.9 x 109.2 x 99.7 cm). Courtesy the artist and BLUM Los Angeles, Tokyo, New York. Photo: Hannah Mjølsnes. © Yuji Ueda
- Yuji Ueda, Untitled, 2024. Ceramic, 28 1/2 x 44 x 34 3/4 in (72.4 x 111.8 x 88.3 cm). Courtesy the artist and BLUM Los Angeles, Tokyo, New York. Photo: Hannah Mjølsnes. © Yuji Ueda
