2017 ART CENTRAL HONG KONG

 

2017. 3. 21 – 3. 25
홍콩 센트럴 하버프론트 이벤트 스페이스에서 열리는 ‘아트센트럴’에 참여.

참여 부스 : D13
참여작가 : 이상민, 이은

ART WORK’s explaining

LEE SANGMIN

Sculpture Artist

My work focuses on Korean celadon and porcelain. I believe that every pot contains memories of countless moments and I incorporate this idea into my work. Korean celadon and porcelain are deeply rooted in Korea’s rich culture and history. I question myself if modern society appreciates the past as much as the present.

What we are at the present is a result of the past, however it seems as through people hastily make judgments and render definitions of what they see at the moment without reflecting on its past. This is seen even naming works of art. For example, we simply name a lotus shaped pot ‘lotus motif celadon’ because that is the image we see. What we perceive is a form but we should also be able to appreciate the time the pot endured, in other words, the past of the pot. This is my homage to time and timelessness. My works try to capture pots in a piece of glass sheet. I do not make sketches pots but rather take images of existing celadon and porcelain. By doing so, I am incorporating my ancestors’ incredible craftsmanship into my work. I carved an image of the pot created in the past in a 12 mm thick glass sheet.

The carved image you see on the glass, actually, is a reflection of light. I create form and time through light in my work. This is my effort to integrate the past and present along with the future in one piece. In this context, I recognize and cherish the true self.

– LEE, SANG MIN


LEE EUN

Ceramic Artist

This collection entitled ‘Sea’ was inspired by the artist’s hometown, the port city of Busan in the south of Korea. Living so close to the water, she was drawn to its beauty and vastness of the sea which has been there since the beginning of time. Lee Eun experienced the self-realization that in this world she is just like a tiny boat, afloat on a boundless ocean, shift away from the secular reality in and around us.

Lee Eun initially majored in painting but has worked in ceramics for the past 20 years. The colours she uses are inspired by the traditional Korean ‘Blue and White Porcelain’ of the past.

She continues to embrace her painting roots which obviously can be observed in this collection where each individual ceramic piece is like a solid brush stroke of a painting.

Each piece should be perceived as an illusion of ‘a wave’ that moves through both the receiver and the practitioner, both feeling connected, making us strong yet peaceful and calm like the sea.

At a glance it may seem that the ceramic pieces are all the same but actually each one is subtly different in colour and texture. The pottery artisans of the ancient world would smash their work with a hammer if they were not completely satisfied with the final result. Lee Eun follows this long and harsh tradition, striving for perfection, and therefore it’s a very meticulous and hardworking process.

First the ceramic pieces are cut to size (9cm long by 1.5cm wide) and fired in the kiln, then each one is hand-painted and fired again. Finally only the perfect pieces are selected and carefully combined to create the most beautiful and calm waves of blues. Confronting the art of Lee Eun, one can gradually calm oneself like the sea.

홍콩 아트센트럴 홈페이지 : http://artcentralhongkong.com/