Jungsuk Lee South Korean, b. 1970

Jungsuk Lee is an experimental Korean ceramic artist and educator whose quietly radical practice challenges inherited ideas of material, tradition and value. Dividing his time between the city and the countryside, Lee teaches ceramic art at Seoul National University of Science and Technology while maintaining a studio practice outside Seoul, close to nature.

Working primarily with blue-and-white ceramics—one of the most revered traditions in ceramic history—Lee deliberately disrupts established conventions. Rather than allowing fire alone to determine the final form, he reintroduces water to soften and partially dissolve the surface, exposing the processes of making and unmaking. Blue adhesive labels, typically used to identify works intended for disposal, become framing devices that recall traditional painting while signalling that these objects are contemporary rather than historical artefacts. Their eroded surfaces and softened cobalt traces evoke excavated relics, blurring distinctions between the newly made and the ancient.

Lee’s Fragile series embraces vulnerability and the emotional sensitivity associated with historic objects. By creating an appearance of age, he questions how cultural and material value is constructed. The works seem to have been unearthed rather than recently made, inviting viewers to consider whether meaning resides within an object itself or in the histories and associations projected onto it. Led by a profound sensitivity to material and process, Lee gently unsettles ceramic tradition while extending it into the language of contemporary sculpture.

Lee has received significant international recognition, including the Gold Award at the International Ceramics Competition Mino in Japan and multiple honours at the Gyeonggi International Ceramic Biennale in South Korea. His work has been presented at prominent international exhibitions and biennales, including the Gyeonggi International Ceramic Biennale and the Cheongju Craft Biennale. Through both his artistic practice and academic role, Lee continues to influence a new generation of artists and advance contemporary ceramic discourse.