Sungwook Park South Korean, b. 1972

Sunghwook Park is an internationally recognised Korean ceramic artist and a prominent contemporary practitioner of buncheong. Over more than three decades, he has reinterpreted this historic tradition through time-honoured methods of making and wood firing, while developing an experimental approach to form and surface. Park has exhibited extensively in Korea and Japan, as well as at international art fairs, and his work has attracted a growing following among collectors.

Park received his BFA and MFA in Ceramic Art from Kookmin University in Seoul. In 2006, he was awarded the Grand Prize at the 3rd TOYA Ceramic Competition.

Originating during the Joseon dynasty, buncheong is characterised by the application of white slip to dark clay. Deeply grounded in this Korean ceramic heritage, Park combines respect for tradition with a sustained commitment to experimentation. He is best known for his monochromatic moon jars, which he fires in a traditional, self-built wood-fired kiln to produce their distinctive grey-green tones.

Rather than applying white slip with a conventional brush, Park repeatedly immerses his large vessels in slip or pours it directly over their surfaces, allowing the material to find its own path around each form. Chance and repetition are integral to this contemplative process, in which the inherent properties of clay, slip and fire take precedence over direct artistic intervention. Built from numerous fine layers reacting with the dark clay beneath, the subtle surfaces reveal intricate variations in tone and texture.

Park’s experimental approach is particularly evident in his two-dimensional Pyeon/Fragment series. Deconstructing the conventional vessel, he creates ceramic paintings from numerous individually formed fragments. Each element receives multiple layers of slip before being assembled into a larger composition. Some of these expansive wall works comprise hundreds of stoneware pieces, extending buncheong beyond the vessel and into the language of contemporary art.

Across both his vessels and wall-based works, Park draws upon the accumulated knowledge of Korean ceramic tradition while continually seeking new possibilities within it. His practice reflects an intimate understanding of material, natural variation and the passage of time, positioning buncheong as a living tradition capable of continued transformation.

Park received his BFA and MFA in Ceramic Art from Kookmin University in Seoul. In 2006, he was awarded the Grand Prize at the 3rd TOYA Ceramic Competition.

Park’s work is held in prominent public collections, including the Victoria and Albert Museum, UK; the Horim Museum, Gyeonggi Ceramic Museum and Yeoju World Ceramic Gallery, South Korea; the Bruckner Foundation, Switzerland; and the International Ceramic Exhibition Centre in Jingdezhen, China.