Ceramic Sculpture by South Korean Artist Jongiin Park

A highly unique ceramic sculpture by South Korean artist Jongjin Park (1982-). The square-form piece is boundary-pushing and defies both the traditional function of a vessel and the very definition of ceramic. The artist developed a creative method of stratus-construction using layers of thin tissue papers soaked in clay slips. The piece on offer belongs to the series of Artistic Stratum Horizontal (2013-) and it was made in 2015 (W0105-2). It was signed on the base as shown.
Provenance: Purportedly purchased from Cynthia Corbett Gallery, London in March 2017
Private Collection in UK.
About the artist:
One of the most creative and exciting ceramists currently working in South Korea, Jongjin Park received a PhD in ceramics at Kookmin University, where he achieved his BFA and MFAs in 2007 and 2009, respectively. He also studied ceramics at Cardiff Metropolitan University in Wales.
In a recent interview with the Ceramic Review, Park said that his work “explores the remarkable ability of ceramics to deceive the eye.” He makes his contemporary ceramic art by using tissue paper and clay slip. In addition to playing with material, he also investigates themes of architecture and conceptual space with his forms.
“My work asks us to consider what is real… These effects meet with simple shapes and structures, contrasting with straight porcelain, a material I studied early on in my academic life. I’m interested in relational art and applying it to ceramics. As ceramic artists we have the advantage of understanding our materials and processes directly and can manipulate these in interesting ways to spark a dialogue with our viewers.”