Adam Chau uses Midjourney, an AI image generator, to create romantic scenes that never existed in history, then transforms those digital images into hand-painted ceramic plates and sculptures. The Connecticut-based ceramicist combines ancient pottery techniques with cutting-edge artificial intelligence to tell stories of queer love and identity that traditional art history largely ignored. His approach demonstrates how AI tools can serve as creative partners rather than replacements for human artistry, opening new possibilities for artists working across mediums.

Why Would a Traditional Ceramicist Turn to AI?

Chau's journey into AI began unexpectedly. About three years ago, while interviewing Canadian ceramicist Carole Epp on his podcast "Trade Secret," Chau learned how Epp had integrated AI into her artistic practice during cancer treatment. Epp's openness to the technology inspired Chau to reconsider a creative question he'd abandoned years earlier: what would a child look like if he and his husband could conceive together?

"You can't tell artists not to use a language or a technology that is being used all over the world. We want to play around with it too, and we want to figure out the boundaries of it, how it can be incorporated in different ways, and how it can be used positively," said Carole Epp, ceramicist.

Carole Epp, Ceramicist

Chau's first major AI project, "Generated Love," explored an alternate ancient history in which queer love was celebrated openly. Using Midjourney, he created romantic images set during the Ming Dynasty, featuring men in traditional attire embracing and kissing. These digital images were then integrated into ceramic plates designed to resemble ancient museum artifacts, but depicting people and relationships that weren't commonly portrayed historically.

How Does Chau Blend Digital and Physical Art?

• AI Image Generation: Chau uses Midjourney to create initial romantic scenes and historical imagery that align with his artistic vision, allowing him to explore subjects and aesthetics that would be difficult to achieve through traditional drawing or painting alone.
• 3D Modeling and Printing: After generating AI images, Chau works with designers to create three-dimensional models based on those digital creations, which are then printed using modern fabrication technology.
• Hand-Crafted Ceramics: The final step returns to ancient tradition, as Chau shapes clay by hand, allows it to dry, and paints each piece individually, creating a hybrid object that bridges thousands of years of artistic practice.

Chau's most ambitious project to date, "The Joy and Sorrow of Imagining," took three years to complete. He blended childhood photographs of himself and his husband using Midjourney to create a fictional son named Billie. He then hired a designer to develop a three-dimensional model, printed it, and hand-sculpted and painted the ceramic version. The work will debut at the Northern Clay Studio in Minneapolis in September 2026, with Billie as the centerpiece of the exhibition.

"I want to work with technology, not against it. Most of my work, there's a little bit of hand. There's a little bit of machine," said Adam Chau, ceramicist and director of the Edith Dale Monson Gallery at Hartford Art School.

Adam Chau, Ceramicist and Gallery Director at Hartford Art School

What Makes This Approach Significant for Contemporary Art?

Chau's work speaks to a larger conversation about what it means to create art in the digital age. Lauren Tucci, exhibitions and collections manager at Northern Clay Studio, noted that Chau's integration of AI into ceramics represents a necessary acknowledgment of our current moment. "Ceramics is a very traditional and at times stuck in traditions," Tucci explained. "I think acknowledging our digital time is necessary. It's a unique contemporary lens for ceramics specifically".

The human element remains central to Chau's practice. Tucci emphasized that what makes his work compelling is the introspective component behind it, not the technology itself. "The part that I find the most human is this introspective component that has led him to use AI in this way," she stated. "It's the desire of two people wanting to have children and only maybe one person being able to contribute to a biological child".

Tucci

Chau's artistic credentials extend well beyond his studio practice. He earned his BFA in studio ceramics from Maine College of Art and Design and a master's degree from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where he studied digital manufacturing, 3D printers, and laser technology. Last year, he joined Hartford Art School as the Edith Dale Monson Gallery director and curator, managing the on-campus art program and coordinating exhibitions featuring emerging, mid-career, and established artists.

His work has earned international recognition. In 2018, Chau received the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts Emerging Artist Fellowship, and since 2019, he has been a member of the International Academy of Ceramics, a UNESCO partner organization. In 2024, his "Generated Love" series was featured in "Flights of Fiction" at the Stonewall National Museum and Archives, one of the largest LGBTQ+ museums in the United States, making Chau the first Asian artist featured at the institution.

"He uniquely pulls together history, culture, and when I say history and culture, I mean we're going back maybe a thousand years, maybe more than a thousand years, to Asian pottery and design all the way and then bringing it from a classic tradition in the Asian mindset to an LGBT mindset in the 21st century," said Robert Kesten, president of the Stonewall National Museum and Archives.

Robert Kesten, President of the Stonewall National Museum and Archives

Throughout his career, Chau has worked with organizations including Hudson Valley MOCA, ArtsWestchester, and Clay Art Center. He has curated more than 20 exhibitions and delivered lectures across the country and internationally about the relationship between traditional ceramics craftsmanship and digital technology. Since joining Hartford Art School, he has produced six exhibitions and is now curating a yearlong exhibition for the school's 150th anniversary in 2027.

One consistent element threads through all of Chau's work: a blue-and-white palette rooted in centuries-old Asian ceramic traditions and his own Asian heritage. "AI afforded me the ability to make the images look old," Chau explained. "I can paint fairly well on ceramics but AI allowed me to have a different characteristic of the image". This aesthetic choice grounds his contemporary practice in historical continuity, demonstrating how AI can serve as a tool for deepening rather than abandoning artistic tradition.