Gyeonggi Ceramics Biennale 2026

Syyoung Kim has spent more than 40 years bringing a contemporary perspective to Heukja, Korea’s traditional black porcelain. At the heart of his practice is yobyeon—the unpredictable colors and patterns that emerge through the interaction of clay and fire. For Kim, clay is the canvas and fire the brush, leaving its own traces on the surface.

Kim gathers and blends clays from different regions and has carried out countless firing experiments over the years. Inside the kiln, minerals in the clay react with the heat to produce rich shades of blue, red, and gold without added pigments. Take a close look at the surfaces. As you shift your position, the colors change with the light, revealing patterns and textures shaped by the firing process.

The Planet series grows out of the traditional Korean moon jar, but transforms its familiar form into something that evokes planets, geological surfaces, and the wider cosmos. Rather than joining the vessel at the top and bottom, as in traditional moon-jar construction, Kim joins two side sections and removes the opening altogether, turning the vessel into a sculptural form.

Now step back and take in the rounded forms as a whole, then slowly move around them. Colors and patterns seem to drift and gather across the surfaces, at times resembling the terrain of a distant planet, at others a vast cosmic landscape. Imagine each work as a small universe brought into being by clay, fire, and time.