Chung Youngrak
“The onggi pottery that captivated me in my youth and led me to study ceramics has remained the central theme of my life — something I have persistently and almost stubbornly devoted myself to through the countless repetitions of the changing four seasons.
To me, onggi felt like people gathering together and whispering softly in the spring, while in winter it resembled piles of stones silently enduring the passing years beneath the snow. Therefore, it was only natural for me to wish to capture within onggi the energy of Korea’s four seasons — the lush summer rainstorms and thunder, the deepening autumn skies, and the crimson glow of sunset.
Nature and what is natural are one and the same. Thus, I hope that my own actions may also become so — though shaped by human hands, endlessly natural, leaving no trace behind within nature itself.”
Chung Youngrak’s biography & CV
Currently operating Youngrak Pottery
Education & Career
Born in 1972
2022 Yeoju-certified Master Ceramic Craftsman
2022 Instructor, Craft and Design Education Program, KCDF & Hongik University
2019 Certified Trainee for National Intangible Cultural Heritage Onggijang (Earthenware Making)
2002 MS in Ceramic Technology, Graduate School of Industry, Myongji University
1997 BFA in Ceramics, College of Fine Arts, Ewha Womans University
Awards
2023 Best Activity Award, National Intangible Cultural Heritage Program, Korea Heritage Agency
2022 Special Selection, The 9th Korea Onggi Competition
2017 Excellence Prize, The 5th Beautiful Korean Ceramics Competition
2009 Special Selection & Special Prize, The 3rd Beautiful Korean Ceramics Competition
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2025 Canvas Embracing Nature: The 9th Solo Exhibition, KCDF Gallery
2024 Onggi, Embracing Nature, Gallery Insa1010, Korea Heritage Service, Korea Heritage Agency
2023 Special Exhibition: Yeoju Ceramic Publications – Chung Youngrak, Yeoju Ceramic Cultural Center
2022 Mandala Within Me, The Star Gallery & Ipo Onggi Kiln Site, Yeoju Sejong Cultural Foundation
2013 Chung Youngrak’s Puraegeuret Exhibition, Geundaehwa Sanghoe, Seoul, Korea
and many others
Selected Group Exhibitions
2025 Special Exhibition: Reflections on the Seasons, Korea Cultural Center Osaka, Osaka, Japan
2024 Special Exhibition: Nature’s Breath, Human Rest, Certified Trainee Support Program, Gallery Insa1010, Korea Heritage Service, Korea Heritage Agency, Seoul, Korea
2022 MAISON&OBJET, Paris, France, Korea Heritage Service, Korea Heritage Agency, Paris, France
2019 The 10th Relay Invitational Exhibition: Korean Living Ceramics – 100 Artists Exhibition, Gyeonggi Museum of Ceramic Design, Yeoju, Korea
2017 Today’s Onggi Exhibition, Korea Heritage Agency, Seoul, Korea
2014 Special Exhibition: Dark and Bluish Onggi—Puraedok, HAN Hyangrim Onggi Museum, Paju, Korea
2013 Opening Exhibition, Korean Cultural Center Brussels, Brussels, Belgium
2012–2025 Ewha Womans University Ceramic Department Alumni Exhibition, Seoul, Korea
2010–2025 National Intangible Heritage Onggijang (Earthenware Making) Demonstrations & Special Exhibitions, Seoul, Korea
and many others
Collections
Korea Ceramic Foundation, Korea House, National Intangible Heritage Center, Changdeokgung Palace(UNESCO World Heritage Site)