Trois Corées

Three Koreas, three artists—Jongjin Park, Jin Eui Kim, and Yeeyoung Ham—three virtuoso ceramicists who push the boundaries of possibility and demonstrate the infinite plasticity of ceramics.

Meticulous, novel, and intriguing, Jongjin Park's work immerses us in a remarkable meditative process. Initially trapped within a pile of paper, reminiscent of a mille-feuille or stacks of banknotes, the clay is set free through firing, as the sheets vanish forever. Observing one of his sculptures, it’s hard to believe that its construction support has completely evaporated, as the ceramic manages to perpetuate the texture and delicacy of the paper. Supported by a palette of pastel tones so distinctly Korean, Jongjin Park's ceramics imbue a singular poetry into an element that is otherwise eminently ordinary.

Manipulating our perception is also the challenge taken on by Jin Eui Kim. Hypnotic, dynamic, and moving, his works are characterized by perfectly regular encirclements of colored lines arranged in gradients, which question our gaze through subtle chromatic variations. This graphic language undeniably places him within the kinetic art movement. However, where Yaacov Agam and Victor Vasarely created the illusion of a third dimension on a flat surface, Jin Eui Kim adds an additional layer of complexity by exploring this through ceramics, working directly with volume.

From destruction to creation, there is only one cycle. Using a multitude of porcelain fragments, Yeeyoung Ham assembles freeform, eclectic, intimate pieces that are full of color. A former student of Jongjin Park based in Seoul, her work is inspired by the chaos of construction sites that dot urban landscapes and by the connections that bind our cities: electrical cables, pipes, barriers, rails... All of these are invasive yet necessary elements, whose assembly or connection gives rise to every construction.