Telling stories through pottery

Ceramic trash gains new life

This is the eighth in a series of interviews with notable artists recommended by the Korean Artist Project, an online platform promoting Korean art. — ED.

By Kwon Mee-yoo

Broken ceramic shards, once a part of fine Korean pottery, are piled on top of each other to form an organic shape. The shape is bumpy and irregular, but it has a unique balance. This is Korean artist Yee Soo-kyung's "Translated Vase."

The artist, 52, breathes new life into the ceramic shards as if she were weaving memories to create a story or putting together a puzzle. She then glues them with epoxy and places gold leaf on the seam. It is a labor-intensive process. It takes months to complete a large ceramic sculpture taller than the artist herself.

Two chandeliers of Yee Soo-kyung’s “When I Become You” on display at Daegu Art Museum Courtesy of the artist and Daegu Art Museum

Also stylized as Yeesookyung, Yee majored in painting at Seoul National University. Her earlier works in the 1990s were mostly conceptual installations, video art and performances.

"I think translation is always mistranslation,” the artist said in an interview with The Korea Times at her atelier in Buam-dong, central Seoul, earlier this month.

“Inspirations for my work come from the world and the result is the world is translated through my body,”

Yee's signature "Translated Vase" series was initiated after her experience at the Biennale of Ceramics in Contemporary Art in Albisola, Italy, in 2001.

Artist Yee Soo-kyung stands next to her ceramic shard-turned-sculpture “Translated Vase” in progress at her studio in Buam-dong, Seoul, earlier this month. / Courtesy of Lee Soo-jin

Yee asked an Italian potter to reproduce white porcelain from the Joseon Kingdom (1392-1910) after telling him poems and tales about the Joseon pottery. The potter created a white ceramic and blue painting, but it was nothing similar to a delicate Joseon one. Yee's intention was to criticize Orientalism fantasies as well as Korean chauvinism that blindly praises tradition.

At first, Yee aimed to raise questions about the imperfection of translation between different cultures. She now finds answers from the physical process of touching and caressing the shards.

"Artists are keen and sensitive,” Yee said. “If I don't use my body, my imagination would get out of control. A shard of ceramic has a long history in it. The unique jade color of Goryeo celadon was only available during the Goryeo Kingdom (936-1392). It was the fruit of advanced technology back then, and only available to the upper class."

Yee Soo-kyung’s “Translated Vase” (2013)

Her ceramic works opened a new chapter during a visit to one of the nation's top potters Lim Hyung-taek's kiln in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province.

"I was fascinated by the dramatic process of smashing ceramic that failed to match the creator's standard,” Yee said. “All of the deficient ones were destroyed.

"However, the sparkling fragments of failure looked like a piece of art to me. I took them to my atelier and stuck the broken pieces together to create a sculpture."

Yee collects pottery shards from master ceramists' kilns across the nation including Gangjin, South Jeolla Province, known for celadon since Goryeo.

"I wash each of them after taking them to my studio and classify them based on size, color and the maker,” she said. “They are all registered in my head and the matching pieces find their place naturally.

"Ceramic is made of clay. The powdery dirt gets kneaded, shaped, fired in the kiln and glazed to finally become pottery. Some of them are broken and the fragments become my sculpture. So the 'Translated Vase' is full of stories, out of my hands."

Instead of concealing the seam of her Frankenstein-like ceramics, Yee gilded them to shine. An affectionate touch breathes new life into the ceramic shards, translated through Yee's vision.

Seeing the unseen through art

While mostly well known for the ceramic shard-turned-sculpture, Yee took a new step forward in her latest exhibition, "When I Become You", under way at Daegu Art Museum in the southern city of Daegu.

At this solo exhibit, featuring some 250 works from the early 2000s, Yee explores new themes for her art, such as Korean traditional dance and past-life regression.

"When I Become You," an artwork sharing its name with the exhibit, is composed of two fancy chandeliers, a small stage and Korean traditional dance that can be completed with audience participation.

"I learned the 'gyobang dance,' a Korean traditional dance of 'gisaeng' (female entertainers), a few years ago,” Yee said. “Korean traditional dance is on the brink of extinction and it sparked my curiosity.".

It reflects Yee's interest in Korea's tradition. "My early works were not related to traditional subjects or used traditional methods,” she said. “Working with pottery shards led me to study our culture, history of pottery and even learn Korean traditional dance."

Her attention eventually broadened into Asia and Yee is now preparing for a residency program in Taipei, Taiwan, starting in April.

"I went to Taipei and Hong Kong last year and realized I was ignorant of neighboring Asian countries,” Yee said. “It was familiar yet strange at the same time. Westerners collect and classify Oriental art, but I want to be involved in local art scene in search of Asian identity."

For more information on the artist and her work, visit www.koreanartistproject.com.