This week guest is Korean-American ceramicist Michelle Im aka RATxCHICKS. Michelle was born in Atlanta, GA in 1984 to Kun Sook Im, a home-maker, and Jong Seong Im, an environmental engineer. She has one brother; Sewon Im, who is a financial consultant also living in the US. Her grandmother was a poet and calligraphy artist in South Korea. As a child the family moved around from Michigan to Boston and South Korea. Michelle returned to the US for college and since graduating with a degree in Biology and Art from The State University of New York at Buffalo, she has lived in New York City. She was named one of Ceramic Monthly’s 2022 Emerging Artists and is an award recipient of the American Craft Council’s 2022 Emerging Artist Cohort Program as well as a grant recipient of the Center for Craft’s Teaching Artist Cohort in 2023. Michelle was a Visiting Artist in Residence at the Archie Bray Foundation for the Ceramic Arts in 2022 and she was selected for a Distinguished Fellowship at Penland School of Craft during her winter residency in 2023. Before becoming a full time ceramicist, Michelle spent time in the service industry and since 2021 she has had her own studio in Queens where she lives with her partner, artist, John Almanza and her dog Inky. She teaches ceramics at Greenwich House Pottery in Manhattan, NY.

Michelle on Instagram: @ratxchicks
Michelle’s website: https://ratxchicks.club/

Michelle’s Playlist
Wu Tang Clan
Talking Heads
The Velvet Underground
Kendrick Lamar
Richie Hawtin
Jeff Mills
Mike Parker
LSDXOXO

Michelle’s favorite female artists:
Christian Joy
Haylie Jimenez
Sydnie Jimenez
Kristy Moreno
Soojin Choi
Mary Cassatt
Joanna Powell
Eun Ha Paek
Sulo Bee
Shea Burke
…and many more.

Host: Chris Stafford
Produced by Hollowell Studios
Follow @theaartpodcast on Instagram
Email: hollowellstudios@gmail.com