Traces in Clay: Korean Sensibility
Curated by Korea Ceramic Foundation, hosted by Magna Gallery and korean-ceramics.com, this exhibition features seven genuine ceramics artists from Korea.
Curatorial note
This exhibition, Traces in Clay: Korean Sensibility, explores the intersection of tradition and modernity in Korean ceramic art.
The Sensibility of Korean ceramics lies not in the mere preservation of tradition, but in its continual reinterpretation and transformation.
Moon jars of the Joseon dynasty, along with onggi—earthenware vessels long used in everyday life—serve as the point of departure for this exhibition. The works of artists who sustain and engage with these traditions reveal the aesthetic sensibility of Korean ceramics through restrained forms and a quiet depth.
Contemporary artists further extend this dialogue, each developing a distinct visual language. The Vestige series, built through layers of differently colored clay; FLOW series, which explores the balance between color and negative space; Silence series, expressing inner stillness through black-glazed porcelain; and the Snowy Mountain and Jimoshin series, which reflect the rhythms and order of nature, unfold throughout the exhibition.
At this point where past and present converge, the exhibition invites viewers to experience the depth of time and the evolving possibilities inherent in Korean ceramics.
Korean Ceramic Foundation
Curator, Seungmin Kang
Featured artists
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![Kim Hojung portrait]()
Kim Hojung
The Flow Series is inspired by ancient vessels, including Cypriot jugs from around 2400–1600 BCE and Korean Neolithic comb-pattern pottery. This long-standing interest has developed into an exploration of natural phenomena as well as an investigation into how the surface texture of ceramics
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![Kim Changho portrait]()
Kim Changho
Onggi becomes truly beautiful when the repetitive work of making it settles naturally into the body and hands. A vessel is at its best when it seems to form almost on its own — a state where I am making it, yet it feels as though something beyond myself is guiding the process. Natural, effortless, and quietly assisted.
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![Kim Heungbae]()
Kim Heungbae
The moon—especially the full moon—is widely regarded as containing auspicious energy. It symbolizes abundance and fertility, inspires people to make wishes, and often evokes longing for someone dear. There exists a remarkable work of art that expresses this very image of the moon
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![Chung Youngrak]()
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.
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![Shin Sunyeon portrait]()
Shin Sunyeon
The Seolsan (SnowyMountain) series begins by forming dark clay into long coils and building up the shape by stacking them line by line. Once the form is complete, I use a brush to sketch the overlapping shapes of the mountains that come to mind. Then, dipping the brush into white slip, I build up marks one by one.
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![Lee Songam portrait]()
Lee Songam
The artist is working on a unique work by considering the atypical shape and black image and reflecting it in the work. Works are mainly expressed in an atypical form, which can be interpreted as the meaning of 'self-expression', which discovers the artist's inner potential energy.
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![Kim Deokho portrait]()
Kim Deokho
Objects that are made by craftspeople inherently bear countless marks made by the two hands that created them. They were never planned that way, however, neither was the passing of time, nor the change in seasons. The Vestige series embodies the time that the clay holds.
