Confluence Project blogs 8 and 10

HunChung Lee

BORN
1967  Seoul, Korea

EDUCATION
PH.D Architecture Kyung-won University, Kyungki-do, Korea, 2007-
M.F.A. Sculpture, Graduate School at San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco, U.S.A, 1994-'96
M.F.A. Ceramic Sculpture, Graduate School at Hong-ik University, Seoul, Korea, 1991-'94
B.F.A. Ceramic Sculpture, Hong-ik University, Seoul, Korea, 1986-'91

Mukuhara Kashun

Born in Hagi-1949j

He is known for his expertise in using age-old traditional techniques to produce beautiful contemporary pieces, infused with a sense of warmth and spirituality.

Joanne Greenbaum







Ettore Sottsass
born on 14 September 1917 in Austria-Hungary
died 31 December 2007 in Milan, Italy









Ettore Sottsass and Hunchung Lee:
I began thinking I was going to do a confluence of Hunchung Lee and Mukuhara Kashun.  I really like the refined raw finish they both bring to their work.  It evokes primal emotions and, I think, allows for the underlying meaning to come through.  I also like the content of both artists, the mostly functional ware of Kashun and the figures of Lee.  While doing more research I came across Ettore Sottsass whose work is such a contrast to both Lee and Kashun yet still utilized many themes I felt would work well with a rougher 'raw' style.

I finally decided to settle with the totem theme from Sottsas and the raw style of Lee keeping in mind the functional ware of Kashun.  My original idea was to make a totem of cups using a similar structure of a Sottsass with the addition of a tea pot to complete the set.  During the process of building the piece I decided I needed two.  Both with a similar structure but subtle differences.  Another project cracked enough in the kiln so it would not fit together any more (the mushroom).  I decided to flip the mushroom cap upside down and place the cup portion of the totem on top.