Yusun Won Korean, b. 1997

An award-winning emerging artist, Yusun Won founded her ceramic practice in Cardiff, UK where she completed an MA. She recently moved back to South Korea, to set up a studio in Seoul.  Won has been developing innovative ways to approach ceramic making. She offers a new perspective on traditional Korean artefacts through unexpected reinterpretations that disrupt the conventional notions of utility in Korean ceramic tradition.

A series that sought to investigate unexpected spaces within her pieces, started from observing an 18th-century Joseon Dynasty vessel made by combining two different forms. Observing the joint, she wondered whether opening it might reveal a concealed space. Through the act of partitioning vessels, she segregates space into inner and outer dimensions and unlocks the potential for new, hidden forms to emerge.

Her delicate pieces are constructed with patient hand building from porcelain. Her vessels are left with the exterior unglazed to preserve the quality of the material, with the gentle fingerprints of the artist visible over the surface. 

One day working in the studio, as she observed her artwork with her head tilted to one side, she started to create pieces that appeared straight from her altered perspective. She realised that there was no "correct" alignment; acceptability was subjective depending on individual viewpoints. Intrigued by the irony, she observed vessel forms from various angles and crafted unbalanced pieces. An array of forms, including round, sharp, unbalanced, straight, or partially omitted vessels, emerged as a result of her exploration of expanded space. These varied shapes harmonise in an elegant synergy.

“Unbalance, for me, is the way to explore vessel and make sense of things around me.”

Selected Awards
The finalist of BADA(British Antique Dealer Association) Art Award 2021, UK
The winner of Cheong-ju International Craft Competition 2019, South Korea