Jihee Oh
작가 소개
Reframing objects, redefining meaning.
Jihee Oh is an artist who challenges the boundaries of everyday objects by transforming their forms and functions. Her practice begins with familiar tools—objects rooted in utility—and reimagines them as conceptual ceramics that defy their original purpose. By combining tool forms with unlikely counterparts such as teapots or cups, she generates new narratives and playful, unexpected relationships between objects.
Oh’s exploration extends beyond functional reinterpretation. She examines the intersection of tradition and modernity, notably through works that fuse the classical Korean maebyeong (plum vase) with ceramic bolts and nuts—icons of industrial society. These hybrid forms illustrate the continuous process of identity being connected, reshaped, and reconstructed across time.
Her sculptures invite viewers to reconsider the meanings embedded in everyday tools and to reflect on how objects carry cultural memory, history, and evolving identity. Through transformation and contrast, Jihee Oh reveals the hidden potential of ordinary forms and presents new value in what once seemed fixed and familiar.
Main activity genre
Ceramics & Pottery
Category
Craft
ARTWORKS
This work transforms the forms of tools, granting them new meanings and functions.
While tools are typically objects designed for specific practical purposes, the artist preserves their recognizable shapes and combines them with unrelated items to create entirely new expressions. By assigning contrasting functions—such as those of a teapot or cup—the work presents unexpected and playful combinations.
Through the altered forms of tools, the piece extends beyond their original utility, revealing new value and possibilities.
Production Year: 2025
Production Technique: Slip casting, Silver coating, Gold luster
The Intersection of Tradition and Modernity
This work is based on one of the traditional forms of Korean ceramics—the maebyeong (plum vase).
Into this classical silhouette, the artist inserts a ceramic reproduction of bolts and nuts, symbols of industrialization.
Rather than merely combining past and present, the piece explores the act of connecting the two, revealing a process in which identity is continually reconstructed atop tradition.
The maebyeong represents the aesthetics of craft and heritage, while the bolt and nut embody the modern industrial world.
As these two elements interlock at the center, the work expresses the evolving and enduring core of identity—one that remains connected, redefined, and reshaped through changing times.
Production Year: 2025
Production Technique: Slip casting, Silver coating, Gold luster
This work transforms the forms of tools, granting them new meanings and functions.
While tools are typically objects designed for specific practical purposes, the artist preserves their recognizable shapes and combines them with unrelated items to create entirely new expressions. By assigning contrasting functions—such as those of a teapot or cup—the work presents unexpected and playful combinations.
Through the altered forms of tools, the piece extends beyond their original utility, revealing new value and possibilities.
Production Year: 2025
Production Technique: Slip casting