“We live in a world where identity can be manufactured and appearances appropriated without concern or even awareness. We question and desire authenticity of the other. I explore this conflict through my chosen media – porcelain, which nods to my Chinese heritage but also represents “pure” white – the white desire I find in both cultures. I aim to take back that fluidity and use it to explore my own identity as a woman of color—the sense of being in-between, an imposter, neither fully Chinese nor Caucasian. Whitewash takes the daily domestic act of washing dishes to reconcile feelings of otherness in one’s skin. Unfired porcelain teacups and saucers are scrubbed and washed in a tub of water and slowly break down and the beauty and function of the object are destroyed. The dinnerware has returned to its natural clay state and this white material from the earth is applied to the face to become a new skin to face the world.” – Jennifer Ling Datchuk