2020, 3.5'x6"x6" and 4'x6"x13", Media: Mixed Media, Stoneware, Firing Process: Electric, Mid-range, Surface: Glazed
2018, 26.5x4xH:4.3, Media: Earthenware / Terracotta, Stoneware, Wild Clay/Raw Clay, Firing Process: High-fire, Other, Oxidation, Reduction, Salt fired, Wood fired, Surface: Glazed, Unglazed
2020, 3.5'x6"x6" and 4'x6"x13", Media: Mixed Media, Stoneware, Firing Process: Electric, Mid-range, Surface: Glazed
2019, 16"x16"xH:10", Media: Stoneware, Firing Process: Mid-range, Other, Reduction, Surface: Glazed
I use opened vessel form as a base that shows ambiguity between the interior and exterior, enabling me to talk about the space itself. Vessels are meant to contain, and it constantly affects the quality of its content which mirrors our relationship with surroundings.
2020, 3'x3'xH:3', Media: Earthenware / Terracotta, Stoneware, Wild Clay/Raw Clay, Firing Process: High-fire, Salt fired, Surface: Engobe / Slip / Underglaze, Glazed
I created a split object and applied glaze using regional clay which represents two different places. Once these two objects collide, It creates another platform to sit on. This work is a gesture of invitation. I am inviting the viewers to my experience and memory I had with this regional clay which exist in both Korea and US.
2021, H:6', Media: Stoneware, Firing Process: Electric, Mid-range, Surface: Engobe / Slip / Underglaze, Glazed
We as human beings think that we are the centerpiece of space, but we are a part of it and are constantly affected by it. With this piece, I wanted to imply the fragility of human existence in space which relies on segments of space. More than separation, I want to show unity and co-existence.
2020, H:5'-6", Media: Earthenware / Terracotta, Stoneware, Wild Clay/Raw Clay, Firing Process: High-fire, Oxidation, Reduction, Salt fired, Surface: Engobe / Slip / Underglaze, Glazed
I used materials bound up with the site of memory and contemplation. This monument I made using regional clay is an act of celebration and validation of the material itself and my memory in place. Stacking a process is simply an act of choice but also the most basic human interaction with nature.
2022, 33"x10"xH:26", Media: Stoneware, Firing Process: High-fire, Oxidation, Reduction, Soda fired, Surface: Glazed
We are always coming from and going somewhere. I've always imagined having a safe shelter which keeps my memory and ego as I am constantly drifting to different places. The vessel serves as a platform which enables it to safely hold the shelter on top.
2022, 16ft x 3ft, Media: Stoneware, Wild Clay/Raw Clay, Firing Process: High-fire, Reduction, Soda fired, Wood fired, Surface: Engobe / Slip / Underglaze, Glazed
We are always coming from and going somewhere. Existence is a constant journey of creating memories among places. Memory is like the tide. It comes in, it goes out, but it can also stay, approaching –accumulating. I am sailing this sea of memory with mysurrounding nature. Its smell, the texture… and the scenery-nature transcends wherever I may be in the world. It becomes the medium that connects me to different places –this constructs me. I am making work to celebrate and validate my memory in place. It is a story about my ontology of how I am existing with my surroundings
2022, 36"x8"xH:10", Media: Stoneware, Wild Clay/Raw Clay, Firing Process: High-fire, Reduction, Soda fired, Surface: Engobe / Slip / Underglaze, Glazed
Artifacts are objects that are made by humans which contain cultural, and historical context. I created the work that represents my personal history between Korea and the US by carefully laying them on top of the horizontal “Vessel” shaped pedestal which is the medium of transportation that connects two different countries. The forms are the ones I brought from my time in Korea and I sculpted them in the US.
Artist Statement
As a maker, I began my journey with space starting with a small vessel to a landscape and observing the inextricable web of the hierarchy between object and subject.
I am standing here between space, place, and the gap in between as a “being” not as a spectator.
Every action is the ramification of perpetual friction among the layers of memories in different places.
I am making work to celebrate and validate my memory in place with clay as a record keeper.
It is a story about my ontology with my surroundings - It will exist beyond my ephemeral existence and will continue to create memories for others.
Bio
Hayun Surl is an Assistant Professor in Ceramics at Angelo State University in Texas. He received his MFA in Ceramics at Ohio University. Before coming to the US, Surl had a two-year apprenticeship pertaining to Korean traditional pottery and kiln design. Surl is excited about melding Eastern and Western techniques and philosophies. His work is heavily inspired by his background as an interior designer – dealing with space and how the subject evokes a response from the viewer.
