LOOKING & LEARNING KYUNGMIN PARK CONTEMPORARY CERAMIC SCULPTOR Ceramic Narratives yungmin Park is a Korean American artist who creates handbuilt figurative sculptures that she calls “narrative ceramics.” Her work juxtaposes highly realistic elements, such as human gestures and expressions, with supernatural or ephemeral abstract elements, often including fantasy scenarios or imaginary worlds. Park describes these elements as her interpreta-tions of the unbounded imagination of children. Interpreting Inheritance Park’s figures, such as the one in the work Inheritance (see centerspread, pgs. 22–23), are often monochromatic, con-trasted with brightly colored imaginary forms that draw the viewer’s attention into the narrative. Although the artist considers her sculptures to be complete narratives in themselves, her titles and the figures do not provide many clues about what is happening. Park prefers that viewers interpret her work based on their personal experiences. The figure in Inheritance differs from many of Park’s subjects, because the proportions are those of a child. Many of her figures contain a child’s head—usually based on herself or other Korean women—on grownup bodies. This relates to the ongoing theme in her work of the ten-sion between the restrictions placed on adult thinking K versus the unencumbered imagination of children. This dichotomy often creates a dark or unsettling effect. A History of Korean Sculpture Korea has had a strong ceramic tradition since about 5000 BCE . Although some periods were influenced by Chinese ceramic developments, Korean work has per-sistently produced distinctive indigenous decorative elements and vessel shapes. Korean kilns produced por-celain as early as the 800s CE , but it was only perfected during the Joseon Dynasty (1392–1910). Park’s art is part of a strand in contemporary South Korean sculpture that encompasses many forms, from the hyperrealistic sculp-tures of Xooang Choi (b. 1975), to the surrealistic, com-plex installations of JeeYoung Lee (b. 1983). About the Artist Park was born in South Korea. After studying ceramics in South Korea, she received a BFA (2006) from New York State University, Alfred, and an MFA (2012) from the University of Georgia. She taught ceramics at Auburn University until 2014, and is currently an assistant pro-fessor of 3D studio art at Endicott College in Beverly, Massachusetts. Kyungmin Park working in her studio. Photo by Jesse Borkowski. Kyungmin Park, When Your Mind Is Elsewhere, 2018. Stoneware, underglaze, glaze, 6 x 14 x 9" (15 x 35.5 x 23 cm). Images courtesy of the artist. SCHOOLARTS.COM 21
School Arts Magazine January 2020: Page 23
