Evelyn Kim

Born as a Korean/American and raised in South Korea, I am currently living and working in the United States. I express my identity through my work, consisting of a conscious cultural heritage through a nostalgic and holistic approach. I bring across my multicultural adapted environment through the serene pictorial memories of nature, objects, and patterns. Depicting scenes that bring a sense of healing and tranquility to functional ware.

With a strong consciousness of my Korean heritage, my work is highly influenced by East Asian (Korean, Chinese, and Japanese) traditional ceramic craft techniques, including traditional wheel throwing and surface decoration. I combine these skills with modern industrial ceramic techniques such as mold making, slip casting, and surface pattern design. I acquired these methods in 2020 whilst studying for a Master’s degree in Ceramic Design at Staffordshire University Stoke-on-Trent United Kingdom, the heart of the pottery industry.

The focused traditional surface decoration techniques I use are called cobalt blue wash painting (or blue and white porcelain) which gives tonal monochrome effects using different densities of diluted cobalt oxide onto the porcelain clay body. This technique was highly used in East Asian ceramics history and is one of the most highly valued ceramic skills to this day. This technique gives an important symbolic meaning to fill in the nostalgic memories providing personal ritual mindfulness practice.

The industrial ceramic methods that I obtained from studying in the United Kingdom expanded my creativity. Using modern ceramic technologies to form varieties of unique and diverse shapes and surface patterns to furthermore express holistic approaches with a clean and streamlined outcome.

By combining and harmonizing historical craft and modern industrial ceramics, I aim to create a voice that is aesthetically pleasing, and minimal yet has elegance with a contemporary approach that provides empathy with everyday use. Through this mindful sense of my work, my aim is for users to have a feeling of peace and serenity when seeing and using my ceramics.