Jaejun Lee
Jaejun Lee is a Korean ceramicist who has been living and working in Cardiff since 2018. He has been exhibiting widely since 2013, in Korea, Taiwan, Germany, Ireland and the UK. His work is a balance of functionality and beauty in porcelain- meticulous, exquisite, meditations on form and process. Completing both his BFA and MFA at Seoul National University, Jaejun sees his work as part of a contemporary movement in Korean ceramics that has its roots in the pottery department at Seoul, using porcelain rather than stoneware. Jaejun’s process is a labour of love- he spends more time polishing his work than the time spent turning, trimming or firing put together, using 60 to 3000 grade diamond polishing paper.
In 2018, he received an ‘Exceptional Talent’ Visa from Arts Council England. In 2019, he won ‘Best Ceramics’ at Bovey Tracey Craft Festival and Best Selected Maker at the Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair in Manchester.
Education
2018 M.F.A Ceramics, Seoul National University, South Korea
2013 B.F.A Ceramics, Seoul National University, South Korea
Awards
2019 ‘Show Case Award’ by Ruthin Craft Centre, Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair, Manchester
2019 ‘Best Selected Maker 2019’, Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair, Manchester
2019 ‘Best Ceramics’, Craft Festival Bovey Tracey, Devon
2016 Finalist, Talente 2016, Munich, Germany
2014 Honorable Mentions, International Ceramics Competition MINO, Tajimi City, Japan
2012 Brighton Award, Seoul National University/ University of Brighton, Seoul, South Korea
Selected Exhibitions
2022 BKV Prize, IHM International Craft Fair, Germany
2022 Cambridge Contemporary Art, Cambridge, UK
2022 Ceramic Art London, Central St. Martins, London, UK
2022 Collect, Somerset House, London, UK
2021 ‘Impossibility of Repetition’, Make Hauser and Wirth, Somerset, UK
2021 ‘Capturing Stillness’, Flow Gallery, London, UK
2021 Collect, online exhibition via Artsy, represented by Ruthin Craft Centre
2020 Retail showcase, Ruthin Craft Centre, Ruthin, UK
2020 Autumn Exhibition, Beaux Arts Bath
2020 Ceramics Exhibition, Cambridge Contemporary Art
2019 Handmade Chelsea, Chelsea Old Town Hall, London
2019 New Member Showcase, Contemporary Applied Arts, London
2019 Tools in the Crafts, Galerie Handwerk, Munich, Germany
2019 BRAVURA, Blue Egg Gallery, Wexford, Ireland
2019 Small Works, The Stratford Gallery, Stratford upon Avon
2019 Celebrating Ceramics, Waterperry Gardens, Oxford
2019 Cambridge to Coast, Cambridge Contemporary Art, Cambridge
2019 Namchon Walking, Studio Feel the Smart, Seoul, South Korea
2019 Sublime Alchemy, Joanna Bird, London
2019 Vessels of Influence, St. Peters Church, Cambridge
2018 Exploring Porcelain, Maud and Mabel, London
2017 A Whiter Shade of Pale, Hexagon Classic Design, London
2016 Space with cup and light, LKATE Gallery, Seoul, South Korea
2016 True to Form, Joanna Bird, London
2016 ‘Stunning Edge’ Contemporary Ceramic Art in Asia, NTCR (National Taiwan Craft Research and Development Institute), Taipei, Taiwan
2016 The Summer of Porcelain, Yanggu Porcelain Museum, Yanggu, South Korea
2016 Prospero’s Charm: Art the Enchant, Joanna Bird, London
2016 Together, LKATE Gallery, Seoul, South Korea
2016 Small Gifts, Gallery Royal, Seoul, South Korea
2015 Groping, Woosuk Gallery at Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea
2014 Buncheong-ware and Contemporary Painting- Ceramics Tells the Future, Kyungwoon Museum, Seoul, South Korea
2014 White in White, Third, Gallery LVS, Seoul, South Korea
2013 The New Past, Seoul National University Museum, Seoul, South Korea
2013 Next Generation, Milal Museum of Art, Seoul, South Korea
2013 White Room, Gallery Toast, Seoul, South Korea
2013 Merry May, Choi Jung Ah Gallery, Seoul, South Korea
2012 52-1, Soohohromb Gallery, Busan, South Korea
Art Fairs
2019 Ceramic Art London (& 2016)
2014- 2017 Craft Trend Fair, Coex, Seoul, South Korea
2016-2017 SOFA Chicago
2017 Tresor Contemporary Craft, Basel, Switzerland
2016 Cheongju International Craft Fair, South Korea (& 2015, 2013)
2016 Decorex International, London
2016 Talente, Munich
2015 Cheongju International Craft Biennale, South Korea (& 2013)
2014-25 COLLECT, Saatchi London