Name Shin Hyun-choul | ||
shin hyun choul (중국 다엽박물관 초대전)
Shin Hyun Choul was born in 1956 in Gumi, Kyungsangbukdo, South Korea. He is Great Master Ceramic Artist from South Korea, who is well known for his original style. He won for grand price at 2001 Yixing International Ceramic Pottery Contest (Yixing, China) face to 780 worldwide ceramist masters. He became Royal Potter Master of Gwangju, Kyunggido, South Korea in 2013.
Contents
Career and Philosophy of his work
April, 1982, Shin, Hyun Choul started his career as a Ceramic Artist. And he built kiln and found Shin Hyun Cheol Ceramics Research Institute in Gwang-Ju, Gyunggi Province, in July, 1985.
Despite the inadequate pottery environment at the time, Shin became fascinated with tea utensils and became immersed in developing tea utensils exuding the beauty of Korean pottery. With the mind to work day and night to create pieces that also combines practicality and functionality, he extensively studied and experimented each design for at least 3 to 5 years. While developing many tea utensils and creating new designs, he also significantly contributed to the works of his colleagues.
With the exponential increase in tea drinkers, Shin endlessly studied tea utensils for new tea ceremony rules. Developed ‘Full Bloom Lotus Pond ceremony rules’ (placing frozen whole lotus blossom into large lotus shaped bowl and pour hot water to watch the blossom fully bloom). This enabled hundreds and even thousands of people to enjoy tea in various tea events all over the country, as well as events in other parts of the world.
‘Lotus Pond’ (Large lotus-shaped tea bowl) and the tea manufacturing method using that is registered as patent 0293627. Furthermore, various tea utensils, such as lotus leaf tea cups and lotus blossom tea cups were developed for either a utility model or design registration. However, research and development of new design is continuously ongoing with ideas stemming endlessly in daily lives. For Shin, with diligent colleagues following his footsteps, every day is devotion and cultivation of the mind, making each piece with sincereness. Shin has played a significant role in the development all over the world of the tea culture.
Furthermore, although it has been a weary journey introducing unique Korean culture in foreign exhibitions, Shin has withstood all the hardships with pride, and his accomplishments certainly entitles him for such pride and confidence. He received grand prix among 780 art pieces, with many of his pieces displayed in National Museum of Korea and various provincial museums. Furthermore, Shin’s works are displayed in Museum of Natural History (U.S.), Kawamura Art Museum (Japan), the 4 major museums in China as well as China Ceramics Gallery at Zibo, Shandong, China.
- Dong-Ju Chung: From ‘What is the tea utensils in our generation?’
To simplify Shin’s remarkable characteristics of tea utensils world, he is the first one to apply familiar moulds into tea utensils. (Of Shin’s tea utensils) The first characteristic is the exquisite integration of traditional and modern pottery and tenaciously continues to overcome the problems mentioned as the flaws in Korean pottery. The second characteristic is the wealth of sophisticated contents in applying flower blossoms and leaves in his works to sublimate religious mystique. He mainly uses lotus blossoms to latently exhibit that the root of tea household goods would create good human ties. The third Characteristic is the aesthetic evolution of tea utensils through the exquisite integration of traditional and modern pottery techniques. There is a particular thing to pay attention. I would like to appraise that his works allow us to discover the energy a cup of tea can bring into our lives by stimulating various interests of life by using abundant leaves and flowers as motives for tea utensils or as additions on the handle.
- Siyeong Lee, The chairman of the board at Korea Cultural Exchange Foundation
The pottery works of Shin are already well-known and famed. Most of his works involve tea kettles, teacups, teapots and tea bowls. Among his works, the one that distinguishes his originality is definitely the jade green tea kettle harmonizing lotus blossoms. This work is not a fruit of coincidence, but derived from his profound philosophy on pottery. Although it is uneconomical to explain all of his philosophy here, but it is important to take notice on the fact that he describes his tea bowls as ‘Alms bowl type’ tea bowls. This description is not just to modify the concept of ‘Macsabal’. This is to reveal his philosophy in his works. In other words, if alms bowl can be interpreted as the rice bowls Buddhist monks used for religious mendicancy during their ascetic practice, the bowl reflects the spiritual life style of the monk through ’religious mendicancy’. Therefore, it can be found that his works are rooted from sacred; a classical text in pottery.