In the past few years, the potters and other artisans of Icheon have shown off the beauty of their work at the Collect craft fair, in partnership with Han Collection. That arrangement worked well for a few years, but had its limitations. On the one hand, Collect gave them the opportunity to find buyers for their work, but the fair only lasts a couple of days and space is limited: visitors have to jostle with their fellow humans – the fair gets very crowded – and it’s difficult to stand back and enjoy the works. This year they tried something different: an exhibition lasting 10 weeks at the Korean Cultural Centre, overlapping with London Craft Week. Plenty of time to enjoy the works, and plenty of space too.
There was much to enjoy and appreciate, and each visitor will have had their own favourites. Possibly my own favourite was a rich deep blue celadon jar decorated with a crane motif by Seyeon Cho:
The KCCUK curatorial team also took the opportunity to introduce the work of some UK-based Korean ceramic artists, many of whom have been prominent in the crafts shows such as Collect and Ceramic Arts London. On show were: Yusun Won’s intentionally Tilted Vessel made from porcelain and Jeju volcanic soil; Liu Kim’s moon jar shaped vessels with an organic exterior which looks like the rough surface of an oyster shell or as if it has accumulated centuries of limescale deposits; Jaejun Lee’s glossily-finished vessels whose colourful glaze oozes down the side of the object like an overgenerously iced cake; Hwajeong Yeo’s sculpture which looks as if it could have been created out of sugar, its brittle appearance created by the alumina glaze; Mimi Joung’s large vessels which look as if they could be formed of chunky knitwear; and Saeri Seo’s delicate ceramic flowers planted within jars and bottles, visible through large jagged holes in their sides.
Meanwhile, the potters from Icheon displayed a wide variety of forms, decorative techniques and glazes – from Youngsoo Kim’s ornate hangeul lettering to a folk art tiger and magpie decoration on a double-funnelled buncheong bottle; from a beautiful craquelure on a delicate green celadon jar with leaf design to Yongseop Kim’s externally completely unglazed jar which had a pattern like marbled paper.
There was almost too much to take in and enjoy. A very special collection. Some more images are available on the KCCUK’s Instagram account: