[비즈한국] The Korean Art Support Project, initiated as a project solely to support artists, has continued for 10 years. Keeping true to our original intent, we have supported over 230 artists. This was a unique endeavor never attempted by any domestic media, cultural organization, or state institution. We pride ourselves on the fact that this decade of persistence has been etched into the 21st-century Korean art scene as a distinct value. Consequently, it is recognized that “the 10-year history of the Korean Art Support Project has created a viewpoint from which to observe the flow of contemporary Korean art.” Now, in Season 11, we aim to pave another path for Korean art.
One of the characteristics of successful people is that they achieved their dreams by “turning stumbling blocks into stepping stones.” This is because they did not view their shortcomings negatively, but instead used them as opportunities to find new paths. Artists sometimes find solutions in this same manner, sublimating them into their own new artistic worlds. It is the act of finding a new method within what was once a problem.
Seong Ju-young, who is gaining attention for her ceramic paintings, has such a story. She is an artist who majored in ceramics, but she did not remain within the world of pottery, constantly attempting new approaches. Eventually, she was able to create a new form of contemporary painting by applying ceramic techniques. This is why her work is called “ceramics that hang on the wall” or “paintings drawn with pottery.”
Looking at Seong Ju-young's ceramic paintings, there is no sense of traditional pottery at all. They feel like relief-style paintings with abstract touches on a curved surface that exudes a fluid rhythm. One can also see ceramics that look like objects made by rolling up thick paper and attaching it to a flat surface. This method was conceived from the properties of the fine clay used to make white porcelain.
“Among the various clays that serve as the basic material for ceramics, white porcelain clay has the most delicate properties. Because it is so sensitive, it is difficult to handle. That is why it cracks the most easily. I wanted to express the wounds of life through these properties of white porcelain clay.”
Seong Ju-young was able to create her envisioned works by utilizing the fragile nature of white porcelain clay, which acts as the canvas for her ceramic paintings. In a sense, she has transformed the weaknesses of the material into an expressive technique.
The production of ceramic painting follows the process of making pottery, excluding only the step of creating a vessel shape. It appears as if she is unfolding pottery into a flat plane. She kneads the white porcelain clay as one would for pottery, then spreads it thin to create a base—much like kneading dough and rolling it out to make a pizza crust.
She brushes a solution onto this ceramic plate that induces cracking. In doing so, she is essentially making brushstrokes that demonstrate painterly quality. Afterward, she bends the plate to instill a wave-like sense of rhythm. This serves as the canvas for the ceramic painting.
As Seong Ju-young's ceramic canvas dries, cracks appear in the areas where the solution was brushed. Once she inlays colors into these cracks and fires the piece in a kiln, the ceramic painting is complete. What is the artist trying to say through these ceramic paintings?
Seong Ju-young, still at a young age, says she wants to express the growing pains that her generation has endured. These include the agony one must endure for mental maturation and the emotional wounds born from human relationships. She has captured these in the fragile nature of white porcelain clay and sublimated the process of overcoming them into beautiful works of art through the inlay technique.