ABOUT ME

  • Julie Jade Lai (b. 1998 , Chicago, IL) is a ceramicist and scientist based in Chicago, IL. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Physics and Astrophysics and her Masters of Information and Data Science, all at the University of California, Berkeley. Lai’s artistic approach is a holistic one, merging together elements of her scientific background, Taiwanese heritage, and mythological narratives. Her ceramic work has exhibited with the No Vacancy Project and Elle Gallery in Portland, OR (2025). As she continues to practice ceramics, illustration, and painting, she is also exploring tattooing, animations, and murals.

  • My ceramic portfolio consists of wheel-thrown and sculptural ceramics with a focus on narrative surface design. With intuition, I collage different fragments of my lived experiences into ceramics: my Taiwanese heritage is often represented using a crocodile motif, graphical elements and scientific textbook imagery influence my design. In this exploration, I confront my selves as their own separate vessels.

  • Julie Lai (b. 1998, Chicago, IL)
    Artist and Scientist

    Education

    • University of California, Berkeley. Masters of Information and Data Science. 2020-2021.

    • University of California Berkeley. Bachelors of Arts. Physics and Astrophysics. 2016-2020.

    Exhibitions

    • 2026, I Care A Lot, SZNL Chicago, Chicago, IL

    • 2026, Made in Chicago, Gallery of Contemporary Mosaics, Chicago, IL

    • 2026, The Stories That We Are, DragonFLY Gallery, Chicago, IL

    • 2025, The No Vacancy Gallery, Old Town PDX (curated by Elle Gallery), Portland, OR

  • Find Julie online at instagram.com/l4i_studio.

    For opportunity inquiries, please contact laijulie8 (at) gmail (dot) com

Download CV (PDF)