Ki Tae Kim
작가 소개
Revealing the natural breath of wood through refined turning and intentional transformation.
Kitae Kim is a woodturning artist who transforms solid wood into sculptural vessels that honor both craftsmanship and the organic vitality of the material. His practice centers on turning wood into exceptionally thin forms—sometimes as delicate as 2–3 mm—allowing each piece to undergo natural deformation during the drying process. Rather than resisting these shifts, he embraces them as part of the work’s final expression, allowing the material to reveal its own movement and character.
Kim works with woods that possess strong individuality, such as oak, oak burl, and rare black persimmon. He highlights their inherent textures through precise turning and finishing techniques, often using pigmented oils or controlled carbonization to bring out ink-like gradations reminiscent of East Asian ink wash painting. In his bowls and vessels, color, grain, and form come together not as imposed design but as a collaboration with the raw life of the wood.
His work invites viewers to consider the subtle dialogue between human intention and the natural tendencies of the material. Each piece embodies a quiet tension between precision and unpredictability—crafted with deliberation, yet completed through the wood’s own response to time and environment.
Through this approach, Kitae Kim creates objects that feel both contemporary and deeply rooted in Korean aesthetics, offering a sculptural language where simplicity, transformation, and the authenticity of material converge.
Main activity genre
Wood & Lacquerware
Category
Craft
ARTWORKS
Woodturning is a technique in which a wood object is shaped by rotating the material on a lathe and carving it as it turns. After the form was completed, the vessel was intentionally turned as thin as possible so that natural deformation could occur during the drying process.
For the finish, an oil mixed with pigments was applied to highlight the inherent grain and character of the oak.
Production Year: 2025
Production Technique: Woodturning
This wood object, crafted through woodturning—shaping wood on a rotating lathe—takes the form of a traditional Korean moon jar.
Rather than preserving the natural color of the wood, the surface was treated with pigmented oil and a carbonization technique, in which the wood is burned to accentuate its grain and create darkened tones.
Through the gradation and spreading effects produced by this method, the piece evokes the sensibility of an East Asian ink wash painting (sumukhwa).
Production Year: 2025
Production Technique: Woodturning
This wooden bowl is crafted through woodturning, a technique in which the wood is shaped on a rotating lathe.
It is made from a rare and uniquely patterned oak burl, a naturally deformed growth that forms distinctive textures within the wood. By preserving as much of the burl’s natural character as possible, the piece highlights its organic grain and irregular form, allowing the inherent beauty of the oak to remain fully intact.
Production Year: 2025
Production Technique: Woodturning
This wooden bowl is crafted through woodturning, a technique in which the wood is shaped while rotating on a lathe.
Made from the highly rare black persimmon wood, the piece was turned to an exceptionally thin wall of approximately 2–3 mm, allowing the natural deformation that occurs during the drying process to become an intentional part of its expression.
The edge of the bowl accentuates the wood’s distinctive black patterns, highlighting the unique character of black persimmon.
Production Year: 2025
Production Technique: Woodturning