Current Exhibit

May 5 –27, 2023

Flows Like Water

Artist: Bowie Ma

For eight years, the Four Chapter Gallery has partnered with the Kansas City Art Institute Fiber Department to present the work of an outstanding graduating senior from their department. We are grateful for this opportunity to serve students and partner with other arts organizations in our city.

A Note from the Artist
About the Exhibit:

My artistic practice centers on tactile materials such as ceramics and fiber. I am most interested in the rawness of these materials and their potential for expression. As an intuitive maker, I use my hands to shape, mold and build, and I am excited to see how each material responds. I choose to accept and embrace quirks that result from the material itself or the environment that I am working in. During the making process I choose to let go and allow the materials to have a voice.

I use water as an inspiration for my work. Its fluidity reminds me of the way I experience emotions. Water can take on many different forms: it is necessary for life, but can also be destructive. Having grown up in Florida, I have a deep connection to its presence and now that I have been living in the midwest I miss it dearly. Over the years it has provided me solace and has been a form of relaxation and escape.

The ceramics and hand papermaking within my work requires the addition and subtraction of water to create forms. In return the materials shrink, crack, break, explode, melt, and decay. This vulnerability exhibited through a material process is what I convey through my work. I pour my feelings and emotions to the material and then it replies with its own rawness.

About the Artist:

Bowie Ma is a Chinese-American, non-binary artist who was born and raised in Miami, Florida. They are currently attending Kansas City Art Institute to obtain their Bachelor of Fine Arts and minor in Asian Studies. In Miami, Florida, Bowie received their Associate’s Degree in Art from Miami Dade College and studied abroad in Hungary at the International Ceramic Studio in Kecskemét, Hungary. They have been a part of group exhibitions in both Florida and Missouri and have received both the Rita and Irwin Blitt Scholarship for International Travel and the Award of Excellence in Fiber.

First Friday Artist Reception
Friday, May 5, 2023
5:00 – 9:00 PM