This morning, Korean artist Jongjin Park won the Loewe Foundation’s Craft Prize. Park was awarded for his piece Strata of Illusion: a ceramic work that gives the illusion of folded and fraying fabrics piled on one another. He achieves this by using thousands of layered sheets of paper coated in porcelain slip. In the kiln, the paper burns away and the piece holds its form, creating a slumped and distorted look.
In a press release, the judges, including creative directors Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez, noted the artist’s work stood out among 30 other finalists “for its ability to confound expectations of what ceramics can be, revealing a sculptural presence that is at once unexpected and purposeful.”
Photo: Courtesy of Loewe
The Loewe Foundation’s Craft Prize was founded in 2016 as a nod to the brand’s origin as a craft workshop in 1846. The award aims to celebrate the value of craft and artistic merit while recognizing the artists creating in innovative ways.
In a press conference today, Park told The Cut he wants people to approach his art with curiosity. “I want people to think, when they look at my work, What is this?” he said. “Although my identity is in the ceramic, if you look at the craftwork itself, if you look at the work of the finalists, and look at the way they’re dealing with the materials, it’s like, Oh, wow, this can be used this way?”
Park has been awarded €50,000, and two special mentions, the Baba Tree Master Weavers and Graziano Visintin, will also receive a €5,000 prize.
