Park Sung-wook South Korean, b. 1972

The Moon Jar is uniquely Korean, made in the 17th - 18th century from traditional ‘baekja’ (Korean white porcelain), the jar is regarded as a key symbol of Korean art for it’s elegant simplicity. Park has reinterpreted the Moon Jar, producing a contemporary version in traditional earthenware pottery ‘buncheong’. Through using the buncheong style, with grey-green body covered in white slip, Park created a space for expressive decoration, which still echoes the pure simplicity of the original jars. Instead of decorating the surface with a brush, the artist either plunge the large jar into the white slip or pours the slip around the jar so that slip naturally finds it’s own path around the vessel. He repeats this action, leaving many beautiful layers within which subtle shades are created. In his latest series, he has deconstructed the moon jar into a two-dimensional format, again using buncheong to create the works. These ceramic paintings are constructed out of hundreds of small pieces, each dipped in the white slip a number of times to create a delicately subtle palette.

Public Collection (selected)

The Horim Museum, South Korea

The Victoria and Albert Museum, UK

The Bruckner Foundation, Switzerland

The Gyeonggi Ceramic Museum, South Korea

The Yeoju World Ceramic Gallery, South Korea 

The International Ceramic Exhibition Centre, China