Gyung Kyun Shin

Ceramicist | Jangan-eup, South Korea

Aesthetics of process

Gyung Kyun has 40 years of experience as a potter
He learns a great deal from the process of failure
He is a culinary professional

Gyung Kyun Shin incorporates his own interpretation on the traditional techniques. Shin's techniques are inherited from his father – the renowned ceramicist Jung-hee Shin – who was known for recreating Goryeo ceramics in the 1960s and 1970s. Shin's ceramics radiate traditional beauty with a contemporary twist. They are fired in the traditional wood-fired kiln, a true display of Korea's natural beauty. Simple, authentic yet delicate and stylish, Shin's ceramics are the perfect bridge between traditional art and modern living. His moon jars were presented at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris in 2014.

Interview

©Shinyoung lee

©JanDee Kim

What is the charm of the Korean moon jar?: The aesthetics of the moon jar has its roots in a tea bowl. If the tea bowl is a poem, the moon jar is a whole novel. It has a peace that like that of a landscape filled with the light of the full moon – over a field covered with white snow.
How do you enjoy working as an artist?: Making pottery is becoming one with nature. I work while listening to the sound of wind and rain, in the morning I wake up to the bird singing. In Goheung, I made a small pond and the moon and starlight was beautifully reflected in the pond.
Do you have your own special ways of working?: I keep and continue traditions. I prepare firewood, produce glazes, tread clay with bare feet and bake pottery by reduction firing at high temperature. I ask myself. "Where did that bowl come from?” Freedom is available when the foundation is solid.
How do you approach your work?: I believe that the basis of making pottery is in nature. If you live in harmony with nature, you don't need many things. Pottery is the same. If you prepare good wood, clay and glaze, and bake it in a kiln on an impeccable fire, you don't need to add anything on its own.

Gyung Kyun Shin is a master artisan: he began his career in 1972 and he started teaching in 1992