Kim Hono 金憲鎬 b. 1958
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With roots in both Korea and Japan, Korea born artist Kim Hono faces some difficulties in Japan due to a history of discrimination against people of Korean descent in Japanese culture. Still he can not travel outside of Japan. When Kim graduated from high school, everyone including his teachers insisted that he must choose one of the few jobs deemed acceptable for Korean-Japanese people: construction worker, Pachinko shop owner, plumber, or taxi driver, etc. But Kim knew that he wanted to be a potter. Though others sneered at this idea, he remained firm in his desire to create and to express himself through working in clay. This determined spirit and untrammelled passion shines through in Kim's work. Images from nature boldly adorn his tea bowls, jars, and sculptures, as is clearly visible in this group of works. Figures appear in stark white against a rich black background, which Kim achieves in a mid-high fire. An effect of this soft heat is that you can almost feel the softness of the clay through the glaze. He paints his works with elements from the wilderness around his home, and here we have gentle butterflies and fearless dogs-both as two-dimensional decoration and a three-dimensional sculptural object. Kim's inventiveness brings a lively spirit to his work that is unparalleled.
