Gailan Ngan

Gailan Ngan

KromOjos

April 16–May 16, 2026

Opening reception: April 16th, 5–8pm

Monte Clark Gallery is pleased to present KromOjos, featuring new sculptural works by Gailan Ngan. Comprising ceramic and knitted forms, the exhibition continues the artist’s materially grounded practice, in which the distinctions between sculpture, painting, and object are kept intentionally fluid.

Working with coil building—one of the oldest and most adaptable ceramic techniques—Ngan develops her sculptures as open, three-dimensional forms. In many works, the coils remain visible, creating a steady rhythm across the surface that speaks to both structure and process. There is a sense of accumulation throughout: forms built gradually, surface upon surface. This approach carries through to the rope work, where a length of found beach rope is knitted into a tubular shape, turning a linear material into something with volume and weight. In both clay and fibre, making becomes a kind of building through repetition—simple gestures that, over time, create complex forms.

Glaze plays a central role in KromOjos. Ngan approaches it with a painter’s sensibility, layering and testing to produce a wide range of surfaces. Some are matte and softly cratered, others glossy and almost liquid, while certain passages take on a subtle “orange peel” texture. Much of the palette is shaped by her ongoing use of chromium oxide—“Krom”—which produces a nuanced range of greens and sometimes pinks. These colours are not entirely predetermined; they develop through firing, where heat and chance introduce variation, allowing each work to settle into its own surface.

The title KromOjos points to both material and image. “Ojos,” or eyes, appear in select works, drawing loosely on visual cues from ancient Greek sculpture. Rather than forming a narrative, they offer brief moments of recognition, suggesting a sense of looking, and of being looked at.