Elaine Kim is a Sydney-based ceramic artist and curator. Elaine graduated with an Honours degree in a Bachelor of Fine Arts at UNSW and currently pursues further study in a Master’s degree of Curating and Cultural Leadership. She is the finalist recipient of the Shelly Simpson Prize issued by Mud Australia (2021) and a highly commended Jenny Birt Award issues by UNSW (2020).
Hello Elaine! Let’s start off with your involvement with Kudos Gallery. Have you been involved with Kudos Gallery before or is this your first time?
I’ve been involved with Kudos Gallery before! For the first online exhibition in 2021 (The Third Space, Kudos online), fifteen artists were invited, sharing their work with the audience. There were many difficulties, but with the help of Kudos Gallery, I was able to finish my previous exhibition. It was appreciated by all who attended. It’s an honour to share my first and second experiences as a curator with Kudos Gallery. The experience will remain very precious to me for the rest of my life because it has broadened my horizons as an artist and curator. This year, I’ve planned and executed ‘Ceramics and Emotions’ as a curator.
Can you tell us more about ‘Ceramics and Emotions’? What can the audience expect to see from the exhibit?
‘Ceramics and Emotions’ aims to ease
the public’s engagement with ceramics,
allowing artists to articulate their emotions
to the audience through their works. The
audience is given an enriching visual and
tactile opportunity to interact with these
works by feeling the materials and textures, exploring how the work reflects the artists’ inner world. My role as a creator and curato has made me realise that art can heal and comfort an individual. This makes me proud of what I do.
‘Ceramics and Emotions’ aims to ease
the public’s engagement with ceramics,
allowing artists to articulate their emotions
to the audience through their works. The
audience is given an enriching visual and
tactile opportunity to interact with these
works by feeling the materials and textures, exploring how the work reflects the artists’ inner world. My role as a creator and curato has made me realise that art can heal and comfort an individual. This makes me proud of what I do.
That’s awesome! Why do you think this exhibition is relevant and necessary today in the art industry?
The exhibition pushes the limitations and boundaries of the material process and links this to the artists’ exploration of self and textures. This allows the audience to experiment with the artist and participate in expressionism through clay. Self-exploration and expressionism have always been relevant to society due to it being a universal human experience.
How did this exhibition help with your artistic or curatorial progress?
The exhibition pushes the limitations and boundaries of the material process and links this to the artists’ exploration of self and textures. This allows the audience to experiment with the artist and participate in expressionism through clay. Self-exploration and expressionism have always been relevant to society due to it being a universal human experience.
How did this exhibition help with your artistic or curatorial progress?
I felt great satisfaction and responsibility for the work I completed at Kudos Gallery - more so than at university. Suppose you ask me what I gained during this time, I can say: good friends, career decisions, and experiences. But the gain of confidence and knowing I can survive by utilising my strengths in any situation is important. I am motivated to overcome more significant challenges in future artistic prospects.
I led the exhibit from beginning to end. Although there were times of struggle, I come to believe that I can do better in the future. As a curator, I strive to expand the scope of curating by creating new opportunities in unexpected spaces.
As I experienced the works of many emerging artists at Kudos Gallery, I was inspired by the materials of various artworks, audience satisfaction, the developmental ideas of art and design and maximising the visibility of Australian art culture.
Let’s talk more about you and your work. What is your usual artistic style in ceramics? Are there any specific practices you like to engage with?
My ceramic art style is typically traditional and contemporary. This is evident in my works that focus on lustre and painting techniques. I am also taking an interest in carving techniques. I practice these skills when I have free time at my studio in Glebe. Also, I love painting porcelain pieces! My subjects often consist of birds, fish, owls, flowers, and other natural elements. In the future, I hope to expand my skills in crystal glazing, various wheel throwing techniques and engaging with modern styles of ceramic art.
What about your work in ‘Ceramics and Emotions’? What message do you want to carry through your work, and can you walk us through your creative process?
My honours research project was on cultural hybridity. Recently I found myself in a position where I was forced to endure racist comments. They were directed at me because of my distinct Asian appearance. I am always in a pickle about my self-image. It doesn't help that I am ambivalent about life as an Asian-Australian woman. It represents my limitations as a gentile (in the anthropological sense - not Semitic sense) and as an Asian woman.
There are lots of oriental elements in my work that testify and celebrate my origins. I also tend to apply mixed cultures to exhibits. That way, it feels as if the two cultures are reconciled in some way. However, emotions of alienation are also inevitable in a foreign land. Overtime, I have recalibrated and become more confident as a hybrid entity.
I hope to continue to weave elements of Asian and Australian culture in my creative process for future projects, celebrating Asian culture in an Australian context. In a way, I have formed a new culture altogether. As curators, we renew people's understanding of the country, culture, and traditions through a personal lens. The key is that they must expand the way we build creative connections.
Are there any artists you look to for inspiration in your works?
I’ve spent a significant part of my life in Korea and Australia. These two distinct cultures have influenced my works. My favourite ceramic artist, Sang Wook Huh, base his works on Korean traditional ceramic styles: a dark stoneware body covered with white slip and a clear glaze. His style is produced at speed, carrying a lively spontaneity and a coarse texture. Harald Szeeman and Walter Hopps had a profound impact on my growth as a curator. I am influenced by the methods that Szeeman and Hopps employ to consult artists about the exhibition form and encourage the participation of artists and their works. To curate an artist’s work, a broad and meticulous understanding of the artist and their project is important. Throughout history, the curator’s role has always been to raise questions and create encounters with art that are unexpected. This has allowed me to empathise with the afflictions and hearts of artists, as I support them in their creative journey.
As I experienced the works of many emerging artists at Kudos Gallery, I was inspired by the materials of various artworks, audience satisfaction, the developmental ideas of art and design and maximising the visibility of Australian art culture.
Let’s talk more about you and your work. What is your usual artistic style in ceramics? Are there any specific practices you like to engage with?
My ceramic art style is typically traditional and contemporary. This is evident in my works that focus on lustre and painting techniques. I am also taking an interest in carving techniques. I practice these skills when I have free time at my studio in Glebe. Also, I love painting porcelain pieces! My subjects often consist of birds, fish, owls, flowers, and other natural elements. In the future, I hope to expand my skills in crystal glazing, various wheel throwing techniques and engaging with modern styles of ceramic art.
What about your work in ‘Ceramics and Emotions’? What message do you want to carry through your work, and can you walk us through your creative process?
My honours research project was on cultural hybridity. Recently I found myself in a position where I was forced to endure racist comments. They were directed at me because of my distinct Asian appearance. I am always in a pickle about my self-image. It doesn't help that I am ambivalent about life as an Asian-Australian woman. It represents my limitations as a gentile (in the anthropological sense - not Semitic sense) and as an Asian woman.
There are lots of oriental elements in my work that testify and celebrate my origins. I also tend to apply mixed cultures to exhibits. That way, it feels as if the two cultures are reconciled in some way. However, emotions of alienation are also inevitable in a foreign land. Overtime, I have recalibrated and become more confident as a hybrid entity.
I hope to continue to weave elements of Asian and Australian culture in my creative process for future projects, celebrating Asian culture in an Australian context. In a way, I have formed a new culture altogether. As curators, we renew people's understanding of the country, culture, and traditions through a personal lens. The key is that they must expand the way we build creative connections.
Are there any artists you look to for inspiration in your works?
I’ve spent a significant part of my life in Korea and Australia. These two distinct cultures have influenced my works. My favourite ceramic artist, Sang Wook Huh, base his works on Korean traditional ceramic styles: a dark stoneware body covered with white slip and a clear glaze. His style is produced at speed, carrying a lively spontaneity and a coarse texture. Harald Szeeman and Walter Hopps had a profound impact on my growth as a curator. I am influenced by the methods that Szeeman and Hopps employ to consult artists about the exhibition form and encourage the participation of artists and their works. To curate an artist’s work, a broad and meticulous understanding of the artist and their project is important. Throughout history, the curator’s role has always been to raise questions and create encounters with art that are unexpected. This has allowed me to empathise with the afflictions and hearts of artists, as I support them in their creative journey.
Any future projects in the works? Can you give us a sneak peek at what you are working on next? We’re excited!
My next curatorial project is titled: ‘Mother as a Creator’. The role of an artist is very much like the process of motherhood. Artists cultivate a single work of art; mothers’birth and nurture their children. All births in this world should be blessed and motherhood should be respected. Without mothers, artists would not have been born and creative works would not have existed. The relationship between mother and child can be emotionally complex; sometimes filled with love, other times filled with pain.
I hope to explore this relationship further by including self-confessions from artists about their own
My next curatorial project is titled: ‘Mother as a Creator’. The role of an artist is very much like the process of motherhood. Artists cultivate a single work of art; mothers’birth and nurture their children. All births in this world should be blessed and motherhood should be respected. Without mothers, artists would not have been born and creative works would not have existed. The relationship between mother and child can be emotionally complex; sometimes filled with love, other times filled with pain.
I hope to explore this relationship further by including self-confessions from artists about their own
mothers. Through this, artists will be able to restore memories of their childhood and dynamic emotions associated with their mothers. This way, artists will be able to understand and share past narratives, providing future generations to empathise with their stories as well.
Discover more about Elaine on Instagram @elainekim_art and@curator_elainekim. She is also a residency artist at Kil.n.it located in Glebe, Sydney. For more information, please refer to the website: https://kil-n-it.com/
Discover more about Elaine on Instagram @elainekim_art and@curator_elainekim. She is also a residency artist at Kil.n.it located in Glebe, Sydney. For more information, please refer to the website: https://kil-n-it.com/
