Micah Lewis-Văn Sweezie is a ceramic artist from Kalamazoo, Michigan. They are shaped and influenced by dichotomous elements of culture and craft from their upbringing in both Vietnam and America. They earned their BFA from The School of The Art Institute of Chicago in 2022 focused in ceramics and sculpture. Micah’s work has been exhibited in group and solo shows nationally, including the NCECA Annual Exhibition. Micah was also awarded as a 2025 NCECA Emerging Artist Fellow and will be a resident artist at The Clay Studio in Philadelphia Fall 2025.
Sweezie produces sculptural works to investigate themes of labor, memory, globalization, and material history. Their practice is heavily informed by historical research and is often inspired by personal ancestral histories. Correlations between human intervention and industrial production are the crux of their work. These correlations broaden realities of understanding around our physical world, product origins, and our relationship to industrialized material. Sweezie utilizes molded and cast forms frequently to question values tied to reproduction and authorship within industry. Material value is also central to their practice. Sweezie employs an assortment of mediums such as porcelain, latex, bronze, and gold gilding. Through these materials, they aspire to reposition suppressed relational histories within global and institutional perceptions.