AGAINST MISFORTUNE

Chinatown Soup is delighted to welcome back Elizabeth New for her third activation at Soup Gallery: Against Misfortune. Opening Tuesday, May 20, this exhibition marks New’s first solo presentation of ceramic work, following years of curating and contributing to local group shows. Please join us for an after-hours reception with the artist on Friday, May 23, from 6–8 PM.

Against Misfortune explores the human impulse to protect, resist, and transmute fear through ceramic form. Drawing on cross-cultural folklore, ritual, and natural iconography, New presents talismanic objects that function beyond decoration as vessels of intention, adorned with symbols evoking chaos, danger, and renewal.
 
In this new body of work, New reveals a significant evolution in both scale and conceptual depth, with sculptural elements that have grown in size and intricacy, grounded in a deeper engagement with the genealogy of symbolism and personal mythology.

Eyes continue to proliferate as motifs of fascination for New—enduring glyphs of vigilance, drawn from the tradition of Turkish Nazar (‘sight’) beads worn to absorb evil. Snakes coil—both menacing and medicinal—echoing hidden wisdom, from their feared presence in the West to their sacred role in Hinduism. Clouds drift, symbols of impermanence and spiritual movement in Eastern philosophies. Skulls serve as memento mori, not to provoke dread but to assert survival, drawing on traditions like Mexico’s Día de los Muertos and Tibetan skull art. Frogs emerge—ancient beings of liminality and strange luck—linked to rain, fertility, and cleansing in Chinese and Native American lore. Flames trace paths of transformation, recalling fire’s purifying force in Zoroastrian rites. Hands cradle and reach, offering both harm and healing, signaling protective gestures from ancient Rome to the Middle Eastern Hamsa. Amanitas rise with their spotted caps—warnings and wonders tied to visions and thresholds in the tales of Old European forests.

Each wheel-thrown jar is made from the same rich black stoneware clay, embodying consistency. Select pieces are paired with porcelain to create striking material contrast. Surface treatments add depth and complexity: layered underglazes provide subtle coloration; clear and matte glazes highlight texture; luster glazes introduce gold and pearlescent light; and reactive volcanic glazes—cratered and organic—erupt during firing into mossy or cloud-like patterns that convey unpredictability within the natural cycle of creation and destruction.

Shape, color, and sign speak a visual language at once mystical and familiar. These works invite viewers to consider what it means to defy fate, to have hope, and to believe—whether in tradition, intuition, or something more mysterious. They ask us to feel the quiet power of a well-shaped object to hold back the dark.


Elizabeth New is a New York City–based artist and designer originally from Philadelphia. She holds an MFA in Industrial Design from Pratt Institute and a BFA from Alfred University’s New York State College of Ceramics, with formative studies at the Oregon College of Art and Craft in Portland, Oregon.

Deeply influenced by the intricate, naturalistic forms of Bernard Palissy and the refined elegance of Limoges porcelain, Elizabeth creates ceramic works that bridge storytelling, function, and symbolism. Her pieces are conceived as modern talismans—objects that offer protection, invite contemplation, and resist the chaos of daily life through form and intention.

A longtime member of Clayspace Ceramic Art Center in Brooklyn, Elizabeth is proud to be part of the vibrant and growing ceramics community in New York City. Her recent work has been exhibited nationally, including in the Small Favors show at The Clay Studio in Philadelphia, an annual exhibition celebrating finely crafted small-scale works, and the Jonald Dudd show during NYCxDesign, which showcases experimental, boundary-pushing design at the intersection of art and function. Her ceramic pieces are also available for purchase at the Museum of Arts and Design (MAD) Store in New York City, reflecting the growing recognition of her work at the intersection of art, craft, and design.

Through her art practice, Elizabeth explores what it means to believe—in tradition, in material, in intuition—and how the objects we surround ourselves with can shape our experience of the world.