Jo Hee-jin South Korean, b. 1990

Jo Hee-jin is a young female ceramist who centres ideas of emotion in her work. She creates unconventional objects that depict her own feelings. Her work explores questions around the function and purpose of ceramics, challenging the realm of utilitarian ceramic art in South Korea. From a distance, her works can appear as if they are living creatures – the organic structures are created using thousands of button size patches of clay. Working with such small quantities of clay means the artist must work at speed to prevent the clay from drying out and to ensure a stable structure. Repetition and variation are significant elements in her process and evident in each unique piece. Jo works responsively, reflecting on both the clay and her emotions to create the organic nature of her works. She deliberately leaves works ‘incomplete, imbalanced and unfinished’ as both a challenge to herself and to the viewer.