Multifaceted Bowl

1992

Multifaceted Bowl, 1992. Ik-yung Kim (Korean, b. 1935). Porcelain, carved and glazed; overall: 15.4 cm (6 1/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Seventy-fifth anniversary gift of the artist 1992.139 According to the artist, a lecture by British ceramics artist Bernard Leach (1887–1979) at Alfred University in New York inspired young Kim to revisit Korean ceramic tradition. This white porcelain bowl, with its carved multifaceted surface in particular, showcases her reimagination of naturalism and minimalism, the two overarching aesthetic principles of white porcelain ritual vessels of the Joseon period (1392–1910). The surface of this vessel is made by using the technique called myeon-chi-gi, a “cutting surface” technique.