“I am drawn to clay for both its malleability and durable strength and the limitless possibilities held by this humble material.”
Naomi Choi, “The Queen’s Gambit,” 2023, 5” x 4”. SOLD.
Soda-fired porcelain and glaze. This piece was made by forging porcelain on the wheel and letting it undergo the intensely volatile environment of a soda-firing, which yields unpredictable transformation. This piece represents both the risks and sacrifices as well as the potential triumph when a woman must navigate and rise through a male-dominated field.
Naomi Choi, “Ontario Winter,” 2023, 7”x 4”. Inquire for price.
Soda-fired porcelain and glaze. The harsh quiet and stillness of an Ontario Winter is depicted utilizing a vase form as a canvas for glaze movement, reaction, and residue through soda-firing.
Naomi Choi, “Terra Firma,” 2025, 16” x 8”. Inquire for price.
Mid-fired Stoneware pedestal base with vase inlay. Terra Firma in Latin means “solid ground,” and is used in English to refer to dry land. Metaphorically, the term is used to appeal to a grasp on reality and the comfort of stability. In this sculpture, that promise collapses. The tipped vase sinks into its pedestal base, signaling a rupture between structure and vessel, foundation and belief. The piece is borne from grappling with the contemporary condition marked by fractured truths, eroding institutions, and a widespread dislocation from shared reality.
Naomi Choi, “Unbound,” 2025. Ceramic Loose-Leaf. Dimensions vary.
I began making ceramic loose leaf pages when my 11-yr old started middle school. There is something about composition notebooks and loose leaf paper that feels so nostalgic and full of potential. Cementing the idea of a disposable sheet of paper into something more permanent lets me to mark this time of fraught transitions.
Dry erase markers work really well on the matte clear surface, which makes these pieces practical in a further way, and not just for serving snacks on.
Clay shrinkage turns wide-ruled into college-ruled.
“Why do you make fortune cookies?”
On a practical level, my hand-built fortune cookies enable me to test my glazes. The shape—with its curves, creases, and open edges—lets me experiment with how a glaze will behave on a variety of surfaces. Success rates vary.
Although my ethnicity is Korean, I am drawn to the powerful way that this instantly recognizable object encapsulates assimilation and symbolizes what it can mean to be a hyphenated American. There is also the opportunity of playing with people’s deeply held, but unexamined, notions of the ephemeral vs. what is permanent. Our usual experience with a fortune cookie is a brief moment when we break it open, read the fortune, then toss it. The shape, the visceral experience of breaking the wafer, and even the moment where we contemplate the fortune’s “wisdom” are all fleeting.
Yet, the permanence of a ceramic replica that comes in a variety of glaze finishes gives rise to an entirely different experience. In place of taste, we can marvel at its unexpected and fanciful color and texture. When given as a gift, the fortune inside becomes a message from a friend or loved one that can be revisited over time—a message in a bottle, of sorts.
Naomi is the maker behind asana.ceramics.
She brings art + commerce together in a way that she can live with.
asana.ceramics sells hand-made functional and sculptural pieces that come in all shapes and sizes but each one is unique.
asana.ceramics can be found at seasonal markets and pop-ups around town.
Interested in Lessons?
I offer private lessons as well as group classes at several studios around Houston.
Learn to hand-build or throw pottery on the wheel with me as I teach you how to shape and create your pieces by hand.
Where to find me
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Evelyn J. Rubenstein Jewish Community Center (ERJCC)
Semester Courses:
- Intro to Ceramics
- Beginner wheel-throwing
- Advanced/Intermediate hand-building
- Advanced/Intermediate wheel-throwing
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Four Circle Studios
- Private 2-hour wheel throwing lessons by appointment
- 6-week Wheel Throwing group classes
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HTX Clay
- Private 2-hour hand-building or wheel-throwing lessons by appointment
- 8-week Wheel Throwing Fundamentals
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Glassell Studio School
When I’m not teaching, you can find me working on my own pieces at the Glassell School of Art, the studio school of the Museum of Fine Art Houston (MFAH)
Commissions
Interested in commissioning a special project with me?
Do you like my work?
Are you willing to meet my minimum project cost of $150?
Let’s see if we’re a good fit.
