Collection Cards: Mindful
Have you ever heard the saying, “One person’s trash is another person’s treasure”? This artwork shows how “trash” can be transformed into something valuable. Artist Yeesookung collected pieces of traditional blue-and-white pottery that were thrown away by other artists because of their imperfections. Broken pieces of pottery are called sherds.
Yeesookung found ways to reassemble the sherds in a new and unusual shape like pieces of a puzzle. By using a precious material like gold to “mend” the discarded pottery pieces, she transforms them into beautiful works of art. She combines trash and treasure while also connecting historical traditions and contemporary art in East Asia.
Have you accidentally broken something? Can you find creative ways to repair or reuse a “broken” object?
Spencer Museum of Art Highlights
Artist Yeesookyung created this dynamic sculpture by piecing together broken ceramics and covering the seams with gold. In Korean, the words “crack” and “gold” are homonyms, both called “geum.” Yee stated: “I wanted to add a sense of humor to my work by filling “geums” (cracks), which are considered as defects, with a valuable material, such as real “geum” (gold).”
Displacement
Translated Vase emerges from discarded ceramic pieces. Yeesookyung gathers scraps from the waste piles of Korean ceramicists and reimagines them as biomorphic sculptures, filling the cracks with gold. In Korean, the words crack and gold are homonyms, both called geum. Yee stated: “I wanted to add a sense of humor to my work by filling geums (cracks), which are considered as defects, with a valuable material, such as real geum (gold).”
Displacement
Translated Vase emerges from discarded ceramic pieces. Yeesookyung gathers scraps from the waste piles of Korean ceramicists and reimagines them as biomorphic sculptures, filling the cracks with gold. In Korean, the words crack and gold are homonyms, both called geum. Yee stated: “I wanted to add a sense of humor to my work by filling geums (cracks), which are considered as defects, with a valuable material, such as real geum (gold).”
Debut
Yeesookyung’s artistic practice delves deep into Korean consciousness, uncovering fragments of historical memory that she transforms into new manifestations of contemporary life. The sculptures in her Translated Vessels series are composed of broken ceramic pieces from waste piles of Korean ceramicists that she reimagines as biomorphic “mutant” sculptures. Each organically shaped form emerges from a painstaking jigsaw-puzzle process in which Yee creates new connections between disparate shards.
Debut
Yeesookyung’s artistic practice delves deep into Korean consciousness, uncovering fragments of historical memory that she transforms into new manifestations of contemporary life. The sculptures in her Translated Vessels series are composed of broken ceramic pieces from waste piles of Korean ceramicists that she reimagines as biomorphic “mutant” sculptures. Each organically shaped form emerges from a painstaking jigsaw-puzzle process in which Yee creates new connections between disparate shards.
Bulldog Art Tour
Click on the audio tab above to listen to a student's interpretation of this object.
Empire of Things
Yee’s artistic practice delves deep into Korean consciousness, uncovering fragments of historical memory that she transforms into new manifestations of contemporary life. The sculptures in her Translated Vessels series are composed of broken ceramic pieces from waste piles of Korean ceramicists that she reimagines as biomorphic “mutant” sculptures. Each organically shaped form emerges from a painstaking jigsaw-puzzle process in which Yee instigates new connections between disparate shards.
Nature/Natural
The artistic practice of Yeesookyung delves deep into Korean consciousness, uncovering fragments of historical memory that she turns into new manifestations of contemporary life. Her ceramic sculptures known as Translated Vessels are comprised of broken ceramic pieces that have been reimagined into biomorphic “mutant” sculptures. Collecting discarded shards of ceramics from waste piles of present-day Korean ceramicists, each organically shaped form emerges from a painstaking jigsaw-puzzle process in which the artist instigates new connections between disparate shards.
Nature/Natural
The artistic practice of Yeesookyung delves deep into Korean consciousness, uncovering fragments of historical memory that she turns into new manifestations of contemporary life. Her ceramic sculptures known as Translated Vessels are comprised of broken ceramic pieces that have been reimagined into biomorphic “mutant” sculptures. Collecting discarded shards of ceramics from waste piles of present-day Korean ceramicists, each organically shaped form emerges from a painstaking jigsaw-puzzle process in which the artist instigates new connections between disparate shards.
