Because this project is intended to survey contemporary Korean ceramics rather than examine those artists who recreate historical works, it was with some hesitation that we scheduled a visit to Park Byung Taek in his studio near Gyeongju, the ancient Shilla dynasty capital. He is well known for his black fired Shilla style pottery including the famous horse and rider wine pitcher excavated from the old Shilla royal tomb. But a chance to look around his crowded studio and showroom shoehorned under an aqueduct by the side of a lake convinced us that Park Byung Taek has a range of work that goes beyond mere reproduction of grave goods.
By the front steps was the first of a series of sculptures formed from large thrown hollow rings placed upright and set with figures. A woman crawling round the ring symbolized the seemingly endless work which faces the wife and mother. Other sculptures in the series depict the dangers of sexual attraction outside marriage and the difficulties inherent in facing the daily grind. These weighty matters occurred to the quiet and thoughtful potter as he completed his quota of bread and butter pieces to distribute to the shops and galleries of his very popular tourist region. He works with his wife and says that she is extraordinarily diligent about her production. We had caught them on a busy morning of clay making and they were both spattered with their labor. Mixing a red local clay in a mixer 3 times they take the product and footknead it into a high pillar to be left under plastic in their clayroom until required.
Sharing a wonderful lunch of Korean homecooking including superb homemade kimchee, we chatted about how Park Byung Tak had come to his present studio and its production of Shilla style ware. Without the chance to follow his dream of a university education, he spent 16 years learning to become an onggi potter producing all the myriad daily items needed for traditional Korean cuisine. Still hungry for something new he decided to learn about other types of ceramic production. Employment in a ceramic studio in Gyeongju provided the technical training and he said that a marvelous month spent doing a national ceramic workshop in conjunction with the 1988 Olympics in Seoul gave him the opportunity to interact with many of Korea’s most innovative ceramic artists.
From 1988 to the present he has spent his time building a studio, raising a family,and perfecting the woodfiring technique which gives the Shilla style ware its characteristic black surface. He has been recognized by the Korean government for his devotion to advancing knowledge of Shilla kiln atmospherics and for developing new figural sculpture with traditional roots.
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CONTACT INFORMATION
Address: 224-1, Sarogukyo, Hadong, Kyungjoo-si, South Korea
Tel: +82(country code).(0)54.746.7571 H.P: +82.(0)19.630.7571
E-mail: saroguk@hanmail.net
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