FROM THE GREENHOUSE
KOREAN CONNECTION 4 - 28 July 2018
KOREAN CONNECTION 4 - 28 July 2018
The Scottish Gallery presents Korean Connection, an exhibition celebrating some of the finest Korean jewellers, silversmiths, glass and ceramicists working in the UK and Korea today. We are extremely grateful to Lloyd Choi and her team at We Present, London and to Choi Keeryong and Misun Won for their assistance that has helped to make this exhibition possible.
Yun Ju Cheol Park Hong-gu Kyosun Jung Choi Keeryong Hyejeong Kim Dong-Hyun Kim Heeseung Koh Inhwa Lee William Lee Jongjin Park Park Seohee Bae Sejin Misun Won
Cover: Bae Sejin, Waiting For Godot I (detail), 2018, slab-built ceramic H35 x W35 x D33 cms, £7,200 Left: Choi Keeryong, Daam Dah 1 & 4 (detail), 2018,kilnformed glass, 23,5ct gold leaf H7-14 x W7.5 x D8-13.5 cms, £2,000-£4,800
Yun Ju Cheol b. 1972 Gyeongbuk, South Korea Yun Ju Cheol is an innovative ceramicist who has created contemporary processes inspired by traditional methods to create extremely tactile surfaces. Originally studying Art History at Cheongju University in South Korea, he then completed a MFA in Ceramic Arts at Dankook University, and later a PhD.
Selected Awards: 2014 The National Ceramics Arts Prize, Special Awards, South Korea 2013 G-Craft Festival Awards Finalist, South Korea 2010 Gyeonggido Crafts Competition, Gold Prize/ South Korea 2009 The Gyeonggido World Crafts Biennale Prize, Finalist / South Korea 2008 TheTaiwan International Ceramics Biennale, Finalist/ Taiwan 2005 The Mino International Ceramics Competition, Honorable Mention / Japan 1995 Choongbook Arts Award, Gold prize, South Korea
Yun Ju Cheol’s famous Cheomjang ceramics (claymolecule decoration), is an astounding technique whereby slip and pigment is applied with a brush onto a clay vessel more than a hundred times to achieve the sensational molecule-covered surface. One application of slip makes 0.3mm of thickness protruding outwards from the clay surface. After the first application of slip, it is left to dry for 20 minutes. Again this process is repeated from between 50 to 100 times. The Cheomjang is a result of Yun Ju Cheol’s research into the technique combining slip-brushing with a new surface decoration method; originally descending from the Korean traditional white-slip decoration technique Buncheong, dating back to the 14th century. Public Collections include: Henan Museum, China Victoria & Albert Museum, London Museum of Modern Ceramic Art, Japan Cheongju International Craft Biennale Collection, South Korea Right: Cheomjang Vessel (170501), 2014, porcelain, slip applied, spiked with gold tops H20 x D18 cms, £2,800
Park Hong-gu b. 1966 Kyung-book province, South Korea
Park Hong Gu is an established furniture designer and sculptor based in South Korea with over 30 years experience. He became well known for his ‘Abstract Burnt Painting’ furniture and objects with unique burnt surfaces. Trained initially as a furniture maker, Park constantly trives to also create non-functional work. Now at a new stage in his career achieved through meditation, Park o longer aims to create functional pieces and instead produces purely aesthetic forms. Park carves wooden logs into triangular forms. This is a challenge as a woodworker, due to the great wood waste it creates. Choosing this form has become a symbolic practice for Park, signifying his deep routed, fearful journey from practical woodworker to artist. This meditational performance has created selfreflective works. The series What is left is to Park, the purest work of art and a true representation of self.
Left: What’s Left (single), 2017 carved and burnt wood with natural oil applied H57 x W46.5 x D42 cms, £2,400 Right: What’s Left (pair), 2017 carved and burnt wood with natural oil applied H42.5-51.5 x W29-30 x D26-27 cms, £2,600
Selected Exhibitions: 2018 Collect, Saatchi Gallery, London 2017 Tresor, Basel, Switzerland 2016 Abstract Burnt Painting, And And Gallery, Seoul, South Korea 2016 KCDF Making is Thinking is Making, La Triennale of Milan, Milan, Italy 2015 Chongju International Craft Biennale, Cheongju, South Korea 2015 Emontional Storytelling, Gana Art Centre, Seoul, South Korea Public Collections include: Victoria & Albert Museum, London
Kyosun Jung b. 1984 Seoul, South Korea
Public Collections include: Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths Victoria & Albert Museum, London Selected Awards: 2018 The Gold and Silver Wyre Drawers Award, Goldsmiths’ Craft & Design Council Craftsmanship & Design Awards 2018 Silver & Bronze Awards, The Goldsmiths’ Craft & Design Council Craftsmanship & Design Awards 2016 Malcolm Appleby Engraving Prize 2013 1st Prize, Young Designer Silversmith Award The Goldsmiths’ Company
‘Research, original design and decorative features made to the highest standards is fundamental to my work. My technical work requires focused concentration and skill to produce quality outcomes, and I do all scales of precious metalwork. I am always extending my technical learning and manufacturing capabilities and I am very interested in reviving traditional techniques in combination with technology i.e. Puk welding. This combination of old and new creates a different visual identity and the main techniques I use at present are; wire applications, hand engraving, puk welding, engine turning and enamelling. I find and utilise inspiring research from nature and geometry with its infinite creations for patterns and textures. For example, observing the linear qualities of water provide plenty of material for the decorative detailing in my designs and I also incorporate aspects of Korean and European aesthetics. My designs start as freehand drawings that are then taken into 3D forms with models and maquettes that are subsequently transferred onto the computer. I work well using both hand and machine technical skills to realise my designs and concepts. With my recent work, I have taken my enamel pieces inspiration from the night sky, sunset and sunrise. I love the sky’s different colours - it’s always changing; days and night, seasons.’
Right: Round Flower Vase with Magnetic Frog, 2017 sterling silver, gold plated magnetic frog D22 cms, price on application
Choi Keeryong b. 1976 Jeonju, South Korea
Originally from South Korea, Choi Keeryong came to Britain to complete a Masters of Design at Edinburgh College of Art and in 2010, before continuing to embark on a PhD in Glass and Architectural Glass. Choi has exhibited widely across the UK whilst investigating the similarities and differences between cultural groups in terms of their aesthetic perceptions of visual experiences, particularly in relation to unfamiliar materials and surface imagery. Choi’s motivation for creating this body of work is to explore how the ambiguity of an individual’s cultural interpretation can help to create the state of ‘uncanni-ness’ in the audience’s visual experiences. He believes that this ‘uncanni-ness’ provokes emotions and feelings and Choi manipulates this powerful tool within his artistic practice to promote the awareness of stereotypes in an individual’s cultural understanding. Developing inlaid colouring techniques inspired by the ancient Korean ‘Saggam’ pottery, allows him to explore the state of ambiguity in visual experience by delineating geometric patterns and counterfeit letters onto glass artworks and encapsulating them in between the layers of transparent glass. The use of the historical symbolism of tea and the popularity of English manufactured ceramic teapots are the metaphors for the cultural stereotypes in both the West and East. Left: Daam Dah 1, 2018 kilnformed glass, 23,5ct gold leaf H14 x W7.5 x D13.5 cms, £4,800
Public Collections include: National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh The National Glass Centre, Sunderland, UK Durham University Oriental Museum, UK
Selected Awards: 2017 Open Project Funding, Creative Scotland 2015 Glass Biennale, The National Glass Centre (NGC) residency award 2012 CGS Associate Prize 2008 SSA Prize, 111th Annual Exhibition, Royal Scottish Academy Gallery
Hyejeong Kim b. 1969 Seoul, South Korea
Korean potter Hyejeong Kim worked in the UK for seven years and is now based in Seoul, South Korea. She creates stoneware ceramics that marry functionality with elegance and the classic with the contemporary. She throws her pots symmetrically on the wheel, and then deforms each piece by hand to create gently asymmetric forms that emphasize the human touch.
Selected Awards: 2005 The Evening Standard Homes & Property Award, Best Domestic Product, Chelsea Crafts Fair, London Public Collections include: Museum of Tokyo University of the Arts, Japan Philadelphia Museum of Art, USA
‘Making pots on a wheel has fascinated me since I started practicing ceramic art. There are many ways of making pots, but it is intersections of movement produced in the wheel-throwing method that creates the most organic structures,’ she explains. ‘Concentric forms are forced to liaise with other movements, causing accidents that uniquely mark a pot. Pots, to me, are the outcome of a ritualistic process that results in a spiritual essence which has taken form.’ Hyejeong uses a variety of clays and glazes to create her work, which is fired in either a reduction or oxidisation atmosphere. She notes, ‘The impressions made on each pot are the combined outcomes of clay body, glaze surface transmuted by fire, and my personal expression’. Hyejeong is a member of the Crafts Potters Association in the UK and currently teaches at the Ceramics Department of Ewha Womans University in Korea.
Right: Carpel, 2018 blue matte glaze stoneware H9.5 x W22 x D13.5 cms, £1,200
Dong-Hyun Kim b. 1978 Bucheon, South Korea
Dong-Hyun Kim received a BFA in metalwork & Jewellery from Kookmin University in Seoul, South Korea, before completing his MFA in 2007. In 2002 he was an exchange student specialising in Metalwork & Jewellery at Sheffield Hallam University. Dong-Hyun Kim is currently studying for his PhD at Kookmin University, whilst also teaching at Wonkwang University. Dong-Hyun Kim specilaises in the skilled hammering and fabrication techniques used to create vessels and metal objects. He had major solo exhibitions in 2012 and 2014 and his work has been shown in numerous exhibitions internationally. His work was awarded a Lions Club Hanau Prize, the second place in Youth promotion, in 2010. In addition to this he also won the Bavarian State Prize 2013 in Germany, and the Metalwork & Jewellery Award 2015 from Yoolizzy Craft Museum in Korea. Public Collections include: China Academy of Art, Hanzhou, China Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich, Germany
Left: Watering II, 2011 silver 925, nickel silver H25 x W18 x D11.5 cms, price on application
Selected Awards: 2015 Art Aurea Award winner
Heeseung Koh b. 1967 Seoul, South Korea Heeseung Koh is based in Seoul, South Korea, where she completed her MFA at Kookmin University in 1994.
Selected Awards: 2007 ACJ Prize for Jewellery, Origin London Craft Fair 2007 Selected, Itami International Craft Exhibition, Museum of Arts & Crafts, Itami, Japan 1991 Copper Prize, The 3rd Korean Contemporary Jewellery Competition, Walker Hill Art Centre, Seoul, Korea Public Collections include: National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Gwacheon, Korea
‘For a long time, I have captured all manner of objects on city streets with my camera. They could be ordinary things such as electric poles or manhole covers embedded firmly in the surface of roads, rubbish heaps piled up seemingly untidily but having their own sense of order, walls covered with numerous tape marks, peeling paint revealing a rusty underbelly, bricks stacked tightly, and signs warning you to keep away. The objects on the streets are very strong and firm, however they have traces of damage due to rain and wind, and undefined causes have broken them down. Although the marks sometimes look like badly-healed scars, they become attractive as the fabric of a city. My works begin with the scenario of ‘plugging a hole’. I make a hole of a determined size in a wooden board and then apply one of many objects that I have already made and, consequently, a relationship between the hole and the object is discovered. Finally, I select rivets, strings, or other matter to combine the two. In my work, small screws or pieces of plastic are treated as if they are precious jewels. The objects incorporated in my jewellery vary in appearance and hold different value and meaning when they are placed in different situations’. Right: Yellow Spots Necklace, 2017 wood, oxidised silver, iron wire, paint H12 x W10x D1.5 cms, £1,920
Inhwa Lee b. 1986 Seoul, South Korea Inhwa Lee is based in Seoul, South Korea, where she completed her MFA in Ceramics in 2011 at the College of Fine Arts, Seoul National University. ‘I make objects with pure-white clay. It has been over a decade since I started working with the medium, but it is still a perplexing task. Not a single step of wheel throwing, glazing and firing can be neglected. Only after ceaseless practice with clay, does it reveal its beauty. I first fix a half-dry object lightly onto a quietly spinning wheel with water and trim the external surface with a trimming knife. It is marvelous how this extremely hard metal knife shaves off soft clay as thin as paper. It is not easy, but it is fascinating to create thin porcelain, or ‘eggshell porcelain’. It is so thin that it looks as if it will soon shatter into pieces, but in fact so sturdy that it can only be sanded with diamond sandpaper. It is so clear that what is contained within can be seen through the form when light is cast throught it. The beauty of eggshell porcelain is realised not by the presence of light, but rather by that of shadow. A range of colours and the brightness and saturation of pigments can adjust the penetrability of light, but it is the thickness that ultimately decides the object’s translucency. The differences create shadows, which in turn overlap with each other to render a unique effect of light. Because these porcelains are extremely thin, they are translucent even in natural light. Light shone through the porcelain is neither strong nor sharp. It is gentle and soft’. Left: Memory of Emotions, 2018 porcelain, pigment, wheel thrown, spraying, reduction, firing, polishing H16 x W25 x D25 cms, £1,425
Selected Awards: 2017 2nd Prize, BKV Prize, Bayerischer Kunstgewerbeverein e V. Germany 2015 Grand Prize, Cheongju International Craft Biennale, Korea 2011 Gold Prize, Cheongju International Craft Biennale, Korea Public Collections include: Yanggu Porcelain Museum, Korea Durham University Oriental Museum, UK Museum of Modern Ceramic Art, Gifu, Japan
William Lee b. 1973 Incheon, Seoul, South Korea
William Lee lives and works in Seoul, South Korea. He completed his BA (hons) in Silversmithing & Metalwork at Camberwell College of Arts, University of London in 2004, before becoming Artist in Residence in the Jewellery & Metalwork department at Sheffield Hallam University in 2006.
Selected Awards: 2016 18th Silver Trienalle (accepted), Germany 2009 Silver Prize, Craftsmanship & Design Award (senior silversmith), Goldsmiths’ Craft & Design Council 2009 President of the Association Prize, Craftsmanship & Design Award, Goldsmiths’ Craft & Design Council Public Collections include: Pembroke College, University of Cambridge Grocers’ Company, London, UK Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums, UK Philadelphia Museum of Art, USA Goldsmiths’ Company, London, UK Victoria & Albert Museum, London, UK
‘I use a basic technique that is central to my artistic practice. Through the process of raising from one disc of silver, only by hand hammering, I construct innovative forms and surfaces inspired by oriental traditional philosphy. By recreating the form and shape of traditional Korean ceramics, I seek to interpret a cultural code in restrained vessel forms. Flowing lines and subtle marks appear to be melt on the surface. As an artist, l place the greatest importance on continuously creating works. This can be interpreted in a number of ways, but what I mean here is that it is important that the present work and its end-product become a reason and driving force for the future’.
Right: Silver Beaker Icicle 1, 2018 fine silver H12 x D9 cms, £1,200
Jongjin Park b. 1982 Seoul, South Korea
Jongjin Park received his MA in Ceramics at Cardiff Metropolitan University, and is currently pursuing a PhD in Ceramics at Kookmin University, Seoul. Jongjin Park’s pieces are made using a technique Park stumbled upon while researching his Master’s thesis at Cardiff University. By painting clay slip onto pieces of paper towel, layering them, applying pigment and then firing them at 1280 degrees, Park creates a masslike trompe l’oeil. The resulting objects not only mimic the appearance of wood, they’re also strong enough to withstand typical woodworking tools, like an electric sander or a Dremel, which allows Park to create the container-like pieces. In some of the work, Park binds as many as 1,000 sheets together that can take up to three days to create. The integration of paper in his work allows the ceramic to imitate another material.
Public Collections include: Four Seasons Hotel, Gwanghwamun, Seoul, Korea Icheon World Ceramic EXPO Center, Korea Gyeonggi Ceramic museum, Gwangju, Korea
Left: Artistic & Stratum I, 2018 tissue paper, porcelain with colour stain H11 x W12 x D11 cms, £770
Selected Awards: 2017 Honorable Mention - Beautiful Korean Ceramics Competition 2016 Gyeonggi Startup Collaboration Grant, Korea Ceramic Foundation, Gyeonggido 2015 Honorable Mention - Seoul Contemporary Ceramic Arts Contest 2014 Highly Commended - Young Masters Maylis Grand Ceramics Prize 2011 Gold prize - The 7th Cheongju International Craft Competition 2010 Special Selected Work - 3rd Ceramic Trend Competion 2008 Grand Prize - The 1st Gwangju White Porcelain Competition 2008 Special Selected Work - Kwan-Ak Contemporary Art Competition
Park Seohee Seoul, South Korea
I N G J E R D H A N E V O L D b. 1955 Park Seohee completed her BA (hons) and MFA in ceramics at the College of Fine Arts, Seoul National University, South Korea, graduating in 2016. ‘I experiment with traditional forms of Josun Dynasty Porcelain and celadon glazes within my work, achieving a bold and contemporary tonal elegance with wheelthrowing. I make a organic forms (inspired by Joseon Porcelain) on the potter’s wheel, trimming the curves from the body to create the straight segments of the polygon’.
Public Collections include: Chinese Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing
Selected Awards: 2017 The 5th Beautiful Korean Ceramics Competition, honorable mention, Korea 2017 Talente 2017’ Finalist, Germany 2017 MINO International Ceramic Competition, honorable Mention, Japan
Right: Ingjerd
Right: Polygonal Vessels, 2018 celadon glaze porcelain Hanevold in her studio, 2018 H13 cms approx, price on application
Bae Sejin b. 1981 Ganghwa, South Korea Bae Sejin completed his BA (hons) and MFA at Seoul National University, graduating in 2012. The lapse of time involves duration, repetition, transformation and circulation. It is continuous, repetitive and circular. In the boundaries of art, a study of the lapse of time is ultimately a study of the human. Samuel Beckett revealed the lapse of time in nature in his play Waiting for Godot. Beckett’s play has become the inspiration for my work. Working with the clay as a natural material unifies nature and humans. The clay contains the time of duration, repetition, transformation and circulation. I try to visualise and record the lapse of time in nature by working with it. Adding the serial numbers and attaching tens of thousands of small blocks leads me to the stage of impassivity. The continuing repetition of labour helps me to overcome the alienation of human beings and to discover myself. Recording the lapse of time succeeds only when performed repeatedly for a long time. On the basis of what I have studied, I will try to get closer to the repetitive and circular time of nature by continuing the repetition of labour. I think that craft, in general, can be compared to Waiting for Godot. To make a good piece of work, repeated behavior is needed. To deal with clay, the artist has to wait a long time. I am using pieces of clay and numbering to record the repeated behavior and the time of waiting’. Left: Waiting For Godot I, 2018 slab-built ceramic H35 x W35 x D33 cms, £7,200
Selected Awards: 2017 Mino International Ceramic Competition, Honorable mention 2017 LOEWE Craft Prize, finalist 2015 Taiwan Ceramics Biennale International Competition, bronze prize 2015 Cheongju International Craft Competition, silver prize 2012 Korea Ceramic Arts Award of Korea, gold prize 2011 National Competition of Mokpo ceramic, excellence award 2010 Iksan Korea Arts and Craft Award, grand prize 2009 Ulsan International Onggi Competition, gold prize
Misun Won b. 1979 Seoul, South Korea
Misun Won started developing her career in the field of jewellery in 1998 in South Korea. She then undertook a MA degree course and worked as an Artist in Residence at Edinburgh College of Art. Since 2008, Misun has worked as a professional jeweller based in Edinburgh, exhibiting throughout the UK, Europe, and USA including; SOFA New York, SOFA Chicago and the American Craft Council Baltimore Show.
Selected Awards: 2017 Open project funding, Creative Scotland 2014 Award of Funding from the Talent Development – International Programme, Creative Scotland 2009 Craft Maker Awards, The City of Edinburgh Council 2008 Professional Development Grant, Scottish Arts Council 2008 Gold Award in Fashion Production Jewellery, Goldsmiths’ Craftsmanship & Design Award 2008 Commended Award in Fine Jewellery, IJL special award, Goldsmiths’ Craftsmanship & Design Award
Misun is inspired by traditional Korean patchwork wrapping cloths called Jogakbo and their scientific interpretation with the fractal geometry theory. She aims to associate the beauty of rhythmical structure from Jogakbo with her jewellery using a ‘patchwork’ of circles and ovals. As the composition of Jogakbo is based on nature, she employs the fractal geometry in order to analyse the complex compositions of Jogakbo. Her in-depth study in the fractal geometry and Jogakbo helps her to create dynamic structures for her collection. She makes a variety of structures and patterns from one sheet of silver, creating playful forms on their own, or in combination with colourful gemstones and other materials such as silk cord. She also applies an ancient Korean gilding technique called Keumboo (24ct gold foil) in order to maximise the complexity of patterns and structures.
Right: Circular Oval Coloured Brooches, 2014 oxidised white precious metal, brass, enamel paint D8-9 cms, £640 - £700
Published by The Scottish Gallery to coincide with the exhibition: KOREAN CONNECTION 4 - 28 JULY 2018 All rights reserved. No part of this catalogue may be reproduced in any form by print, photocopy or by any other means, without the permission of the copyright holders and of the publishers.
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CONTEMPORARY ART SINCE 1842