Vol.134_JAERYO
JAERYO
Interviewed by Kim Kieun
From Seoul, South Korea
Please introduce your brand.
JAERYO is a workroom/workshop that started with 2 people – Nuri Kim, who handles clay and SangwonOh, who handles pulp. We create objects which are not shaped according to a plan, but due to accident, using a mixture of materials such as porcelain, pulp, glass, lacquer, resin, and other materials.
You produce a broad range of products from vases, lighting, objects, jewels and many others. I wonder how you have the determination to produce such a variety of items.
We are trying all kind of working processes, not limiting ourselves to one material; and since we have our own workshop, we are experimenting as much as we can. This context brought the variety you are mentioning. We work being aware of the consequence and each result, setting many goals, not only a single one.
Grap. Nuage is the prototype of a uniqueshaped vase. How did you get the inspiration to make it?
When I traveled to Europe first time 3 years ago, I was impressed by the changing color of the sky due to the light and clouds. I decided to make objects that can capture that moment and the clouds themselves. I focused more on the colors rather than on the beauty of the shape. I tried to embody the shape of the clouds and make it more sophisticated. The sky filled with clouds has so many colors and one can feel the changing of the texture due to light and time. We express the specific colors with glazes and make diverse textures through the different ways of handling glaze. The name of Grap. Nuage refers to the objects described by the shape of the clouds (“nuage” being French for “cloud”), bearing the actual meaning of “grab the cloud”. That is how we decided for this name. But we realized that the finite object has the shape of a grape, and then we changed the “B” to “P”, obtaining “Grap”, which is an ambiguous expression.
Please introduce us about the exhibitions you made for Supply Seoul. We exhibited twice in Supply Seoul.
The first one was “Seating Plan”, a group exhibition. Artists were supposed to create objects on which one can seat. We produced 3 types of paper-clay stools that had the shape of “Nuage” and that are an extended idea of the original “Nuage”-vase. We wanted to experiment with the stereotype – “Nuage”-vase – and show the possibilities within. The second exhibition is “An Undefined Plate”, a solo exhibition. We would like to create a series of plates that wouldn’t serve their “purpose”, taking into consideration the value and the other beauty of objects. We used various mixtures of materials such as glass, beads, papers and other textures to present new processes and I believe that this mode of working reflects JAERYO’s identity very well.
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