Hedy Yang
Potter
Hedy Yang is a Chinese-American potter currently based in Berkley, MI, originally from Northville, MI. Her pottery journey has had its ups and downs: from being an art-school dropout to going viral on social media to being featured in The New York Times and doing a collection with Nordstrom.
A life-changing trip to the Adirondacks inspired her now signature style of dreamy sunset-themed mugs and vases.
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This interview was edited for length and clarity. It took place on March 24, 2025.
Q: Tell me about your journey to becoming an artist.
HY: I grew up mostly in the Novi/Northville area, but was born in Canada and spent a few years in Illinois. Although my parents have traditional jobs (my dad’s an engineer and my mom’s a teacher), they’re both artistically inclined and love painting. So growing up, my brother and I took a lot of arts and crafts classes. But like many immigrant parents who come for the American Dream, my parents saw art as a résumé booster for us, not a career.
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I was planning to go into medicine, but my high school required us to take an art class, so I signed up for ceramics as a blowoff. After making my first pot, something clicked. I was obsessed. I’d skip class and sneak into the studio during breaks — I just wanted to keep making.
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That led me to study ceramics at U-M. I didn’t have the best time there: U-M values the conceptual (“what does your work mean”), while I was more interested in aesthetic and technique. I wanted to first get my technique down (making work that wouldn’t explode in the kiln) — and figure out the meaning later. So I dropped out freshman year without telling my parents. I got a job as a studio tech at a local ceramic studio and learned a lot fast: helping others and learning from their mistakes. I also worked a lot of restaurant jobs. But after a year, I was burned out. I finally asked my parents for help going back to school.
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I transferred to MSU, taking 20 credits a semester plus summer classes to catch up. MSU was a better fit — they gave me space to just make. That’s when I went viral for the first time: for a black and white marble bubble glaze technique I was doing at the time. It was exciting but overwhelming. I was trying to meet demand before I’d even figured out what I wanted to say.
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Post-grad, I wanted to develop more meaning in my work. I went to an artist residency in the Adirondacks. It was very isolating: a farm on a mountain with no cell service, no car, and barely any Wi-fi. To keep myself from freaking out, I threw myself into my work. I’d stay up all night in the studio until the sun rose. For the first time, I had the space to be still. I started noticing small things: the way my coffee dripped, the subtle changes in the sky. It shifted my perspective. That idea of being present to beauty in the simple moments has now become the foundation of my work. My camera roll is filled with sunsets and sunrises, each of which I can look at and remember the exact day I was having. I pour those memories into my vases.
"For the first time, I had the space to be still. I started noticing small things: the way my coffee dripped, the subtle changes in the sky...
That idea of being present to beauty in the simple moments has now become the foundation of my work."
HY (cont.): During that year, I intentionally didn’t sell any work. I wanted to make what I loved. But when I started posting again, my sunset pottery went viral. Still, I didn’t rush to sell — I felt like my work wasn’t ready or good enough. After the residency, I did a postbacc at Syracuse, planning to become a professor. It felt like the safest route to having a studio and a salary. But then COVID hit, and I moved back home to Michigan.
I’d been holding off on selling for so long that I started to doubt myself. I thought maybe my parents were right and I needed a “real job.” I got a marketing gig at a spa and started taking night classes in automotive sculpting — something a lot of ceramic artists do. But it wasn’t creatively fulfilling and felt like a boys’ club. The day after I finished the automotive sculpting course, I quit my marketing job. I had no plan, just this urge to drive to New York and see a friend.
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On that drive, I got an email from a writer who’d interviewed me months earlier: she told me the article she’d written including me had just been published in The New York Times. A few hours later, Nordstrom reached out about doing a collection. All of it happened under this incredible sunset. It felt like a sign. Since then, I’ve opened my own studio in Berkeley, MI.
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My journey hasn’t been a fairytale. I actively tried to not be a ceramicist. But I’m glad I explored other paths. If I hadn’t, I’d always be asking “what if?” Now, after trying to force myself into traditional careers, I feel more grounded in the path I’m on — especially after the universe nudged me back.
"My journey hasn’t been a fairytale. I actively tried to not be a ceramicist. But I’m glad I explored other paths. If I hadn’t, I’d always be asking “what if?”"
Q: What's your day to day like?
HY: It varies. I’m not very good at time management. The fact that I am my own boss means that no one tells me to get off my phone so sometimes I’ll just dilly-dally and the next thing I know it’s 4am.
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On average, I’m in my studio 7 days a week for 12 hours at a time. I work in cycles where there’ll be periods of time I’ll only be throwing on the wheel, then slipcasting, then glazing. So I’ll just go into my studio and put on a TV show while I do my work. I’ll be like: I can’t stop watching this show. And if I’m watching TV, I better be working. I’ll basically hold myself hostage in the studio. I’ll binge a whole Netflix series in one evening until the sun rises and be making pots the whole time. I’ll get takeout for lunch or dinner.
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If I’m not in the studio, I’m traveling for art shows. I drive my work to shows because I don’t like to mail my pots and because it’s a fun break for me from studio.
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So my way of working now is slightly obsessive and not very healthy. I’m trying to find more balance now.
Q: What creatives routines do you have that nourish you?
HY: That’s my issue — I don’t have that. I don’t really know how to relax. I think partly due to my childhood, where if we were watching TV my Asian parents were like: you should study. If I’m at home, I can’t just watch TV — I have to be working and painting my pots at the same time.
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I’ve tried to make a good habit of going out to see the sky around sunset time. But I don’t have many good habits because I’ll always push through until I make a big enough sale or there’s another art show. I used to do the Ann Arbor art fair every year where people would shower me with praise and that would be my fuel for the year.
But I’ve realized that’s not sustainable.
Recently, I took a sabbatical trip to China for a month to learn about different pottery techniques. It was humbling and exciting to try new techniques I was bad at. In Michigan, I thought I’d reached critical mass at what I’ve been working on but China opened the glass ceiling I had for myself.
Q: How do you define success?
HY: Success to me is having enough money to cover my expenses and having supportive people around me. It means so much to me to have loyal collectors who’ve been with me since my college years and have kept up with my journey. They’ve invested in me as a person, not just like: “Oh, I really like this mug,” and disappear forever. As long as I can cover my expenses, I truly couldn’t care — anything else I make is a cherry on top.
Q: What does being an Asian American artist mean to you?
HY: At first, I didn’t think much of my Asian American identity. But now, with the current political atmosphere and attitude towards Asian-Americans post-COVID, it’s very important to me to claim that identity for myself. In my artist bios, I always say I’m a Chinese-American potter, especially since I don’t see a lot of Chinese American potters at big galleries.
After going to China, I learned that so many classic patterns on pottery I took as just pretty shapes hold so much cultural significance and history. Now, I want to incorporate that intentionality into my pottery for it to be more meaningful.
"Now, with the current political atmosphere and attitude towards Asian-Americans post-COVID, it’s very important to me to claim that identity for myself.
Q: What's your advice to aspiring artists?
HY: Work super hard and don’t be afraid to put yourself out there. The person that works harder and puts themselves out there will always get more visibility. Also — get out of your own way. I was my biggest obstacle, overthinking things like: “I can’t post this. It’s not ready. It’s not aesthetically pleasing enough.” But there’s a lot of people who don’t overthink like that. I’ve seen artists who started after me go a lot further along because they put themselves out there with no inhibitions and worked super hard.
So I’ve started embracing just putting myself out there like: “Here’s this weird thing I’ve made.” You can’t decide what people will like. Sometimes, the thing you make that you hate could be someone’s favorite thing ever.