Yeonsoo Kim

Artist Statement

My work is characterized by consistency, perfection, thoroughness, and handmade work, which emphasizes free will, randomness, and casualness. I have been thinking about the relationship between ideas, notions, and concepts of tradition and contemporary art. This is the most significant reason for my perpetual need to continue creating and exploring, while constantly questioning and pursuing the idea of how I could create a a new horizon of ceramics as an expression within my work. In all my pieces, diverse characters appear together and communicate with each other, speaking to viewers with their expressions faces. Formally the work addresses implied images and stories. The shape of the faces could be self-portraits of myself.

Artist Bio

Yeonsoo Kim was born in Haenam, South Korea. He earned his MFA in ceramics at Lamar Dodd School of Art, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, and his BFA in ceramics and glass from Hongik University, located in Seoul, Korea. He has held apprenticeships with Onggi masters in Jeolla-do (Hayngjong-Oh) and Gyeongsang-do (Jinkyu Huh) in Korea. Kim has won multiple awards and exhibited nationally and internationally. Most recently, he was named one of the top six Emerging Artists of 2020 by the National Council on Education the Ceramic Arts (NCECA) and had a solo exhibition at the Radius Gallery in Missoula, MT. He has participated in several artist residency programs, including the Korea Ceramic Foundation, Montana State University, Morean Center for Clay, Houston Center for Houston Contemporary Craft, and the Archie Bray Foundation.