INTERVIEW In Studio with Corrie Bain Corrie begins her Buncheong workshops with making the stamps so that in the end every par- ticipant can find their own designs in the inlay on the object. As they work, they learn about the background and history of this ancient and beautiful Korean tradition. We can read about it in this interview. by Evelyne Schoenmann orrie, our readers will ask them- searching and studying Oriental ceramics valuable gift. After spending most of my C selves: a Scottish ceramist ex- with Korean ceramists in South and North life travelling, I’m finally realizing that plaining Buncheong technique? But you Korea, then China (The Pottery Workshop you don’t always have to be on the move lived quite a few years in Korea, didn’t in Jingdezhen, Yunnan, Xian, Yixing), physically in order to be on a journey! you? And also in other countries around Japan (Mashiko, Kyoto, Bizen) and Thai- the world. Would you tell us your story? land. One of the ceramists who was piv- Before we talk about the Buncheong otal in inspiring me to make Buncheong technique, please tell us about your signa- I was born in a remote part of Northern ware was Korean ceramist Lee In Chin, ture pieces, the beautiful stretched slabs… Scotland, and grew up in a small village whom I met at the KOCEF Biennale and They are semi-functional vessels re- on an island in Greece. Being surround- lived near me in Gyeonggi-do Province, lated to the exploration of visual dynam- ed by artists and having a ceramist as a Icheon. Returning to Europe, I became a ics, kinetics and movement. I call them father meant I was in contact with clay student of English ceramist Seth Cardew. “cymatics”, from the Greek word: kuμa, since early childhood. I began drawing meaning “wave", and the study of sound lessons when I was 12, which led me to And now you are the right hand of the wave phenomena created by Swiss sci- art school. I studied a Bachelor of Arts owner of the ceramics school El Torn in entist Hans Jenny, a follower of Rudolf in Design and Applied Arts specialis- Barcelona. Did you settle down? Steiner anthroposophy. ing in Ceramics at Edinburgh College of For the past 7 years I’ve been working The surfaces are treated with tech- Art, was an exchange student at Alfred as a freelance throwing and hand build- niques that mimic sound waves, the ef- University of Ceramics in New York, and ing teacher at El Torn. It’s been a place for fects of time, weather, and erosion on achieved an Honours Degree in 2003. I me to learn, focus and grow. Martin and matter. They have central symmetry, bal- exhibited at New Designers in London, Paula Loew have been instrumental in my ancing on a curve. Sometimes they are in international galleries, and ran a resi- development. Before working in El Torn interactive, rocking on an axis or spin- dential summer-school teaching ceramics I had no real business acumen or experi- ning in a circle. Like a pendulum, they in Greece for three years, before emigrat- ence, and when someone puts their trust evoke a sense of rhythm, a fundamental ing to South Korea. I spent two years re- in you to help run a business, it’s an in- element of nature. 62 NEW CERAMICS SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2017 INTERVIEW Buncheong: there is a story behind this Buncheong can be found in vessels deco- glazes are more rustic, and less refined. traditional Korean stoneware. Would you rated with repetitive, bold stamp motifs, tell us what you know about it? providing a link to abstract or minimalist What lies in the near future for you, Curator Soyoung Lee wrote: expressionism in contemporary art. After Corrie? “If Goryeo celadon embodies classical making a piece, when leather-hard, the Currently I’m working on sculptural elegance, Buncheong ware represents ex- surface is stamped with flower designs pieces with social and political con- perimental spirit” that look like chrysanthemums. Slip in- cepts. One is called New Life related to Buncheong owes much to the celadon lay is applied, and when almost dry, the the Syrian refugee crisis, and the other of the preceding Goryeo Dynasty, high extra slip is scraped off, sometimes leav- Mushroom Politics, to do with Brexit. I’m quality vessels used for Buddhist rituals ing excess slip on the surface to soften the exhibiting at Documenta 14, an exhibi- and royalty. But the Mongol invasions in look. Traditionally the pieces are fired to tion which takes place every five years in 1231, and subsequent decline of Buddhist a low bisque at about 700 degrees, glazed Kassel, Germany. It’s a collaborative piece culture triggered a break away from aris- with a transparent glaze, then re-fired in a called Banquet Table Tales, designed by tocratic traditions. Buncheong replaced wood fired kiln in a reduction atmosphere, multidisciplinary artist Antoni Miralda. A celadon in the 14th century, embracing to 1270-1300 degrees Celsius. The pieces wall installation measuring 11 x 4 metres, a more liberal manner of expression and that I have made in the pictures are fired made of 60 ceramic plates with sculptural was enjoyed by aristocracy and common in an electric kiln to 1240°C, using a local interventions depicting Grimm Brothers people alike. Nowadays it is recognized black clay, porcelain slip inlay, and trans- fairy tales, it’s exhibited in the permanent as the most innovative style of Korean parent glaze. It’s the little imperfections collection of the Grimm Brothers Museum ceramics produced during the Joseon that make Buncheong ware so authentic alongside the works of political activist Dynasty, renowned for its playful de- and unrestrained, I enjoy working quickly Ai Wei Wei. With Barcelona as my base, I signs, omission of detail, and whimsical whilst making them and leaving all the hope to continue teaching, do a ceramics expressions. Gradually replaced by por- marks of the making intact. They tell us residency, exhibit and sell my work, and celain, Buncheong tradition ended with the story of how they were made. travel. the Japanese invasions of Korea between Is there a special glaze one has to use CORRIE BAIN Ceramic Artist 1592 and 1598. Recently there has been a when doing the Buncheong style? At the El Torn Barcelona revival of Buncheong and potters world- Leeum museum in Seoul I saw white and C/Ávila 124, 2° 1° | 08018 Barcelona Spain wide are rediscovering its modern aes- grey objects, but also to my astonishment a [email protected] thetic value. light green and blue… www.corriebainceramics.com The glazes used in early Buncheong https://www.instagram.com/corriebainceramics/ In the picture series we see lots of ware were similar to those of the celadon stamps, which remind me of flower heads. tradition of the preceding Goryeo dynasty Evelyne Schoenmann’s Stamps are at the beginning of working in i.e ‘Sanggam’ ware. Typically, Buncheong next interview is with the Buncheong technique, aren’t they? Please ware glazes contain less iron oxide and are Julia Saffer, Germany guide us through the special technique. not as green in tone. The defining charac- The major application techniques are teristics that differentiate it from celadon Evelyne Schoenmann is a ceramist. She stamping, incising, slip inlay, brushed are the use of white slip covering a coarser lives and works in Basel, Switzerland and slip, painting with iron pigment, and dip- iron-rich clay, coated with a clear semi Liguria, Italy. ping. But I feel that the real essence of translucent feldspar glaze. The clay and www.schoenmann-ceramics.ch SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2017 NEW CERAMICS 63.