{"id":353,"date":"2011-05-21T16:47:54","date_gmt":"2011-05-21T16:47:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/vandfam.net\/dev\/wordpressmu\/college\/?p=353"},"modified":"2011-05-21T16:47:54","modified_gmt":"2011-05-21T16:47:54","slug":"artist-yun-nam-connecting-to-north-carolinas-clay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/?p=353","title":{"rendered":"Artist Yun Nam: Connecting to North Carolina\u2019s clay"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

In art professor Yun Nam\u2019s <\/a>studio, ceramic tea bowls stack on every surface. In the throwing room, bowls crowd the shelves. Outside amid toasty kilns, bowls sit on ware carts, nested into tiny towers.<\/p>\n

Each is a part of Nam\u2019s journey.<\/p>\n

For years, he purchased his clay from commercial dealers and never considered the origin of the clay, only the finished product. But a lifetime of producing work solely for the visual result had left the acclaimed Korean-born ceramist feeling disconnected with the nature of his process.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t know everything,\u201d Nam said. \u201cAs artists, we look for the visual. How big is a piece; how well is it glazed? I decided to look beyond the visual and tangible, connect the past, present and future of the material.\u201d<\/p>\n

He stopped working and started studying. He learned of a long-held tradition of using mica clay, some of which could be found in Kings Mountain, west of Charlotte. Pyrophyllite minerals could be found in the soil of nearby Hillsborough.<\/p>\n

He would use materials from both cities to make his own clays and bring them to his teaching. Other local clays could be purchased from the clay factory at STARworks Studio in Star, N.C.<\/p>\n

\u201cUsing clay from North Carolina, that is bonding for me,\u201d Nam said. \u201cAnd it\u2019s important that I show my students how to work with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

His research provided the clay with which his students would craft. A connection to the state where he\u2019d taught for about 16 years and raised his children was providing the inspiration he needed to create again.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat do I need to teach? How to make a good handle or candleholders? Yes, but I also like them to learn a beautiful lesson through the clay, to think beyond visible and establish a connection to the environment that is part of their history.\u201d<\/p>\n

A good pot is about good materials, honest process and where it\u2019s made, he said. \u201cIn searching for the invisible, I see so much more.\u201d<\/p>\n

He\u2019s made hundreds of tea bowls, experimenting with heat, glaze and composition, balancing and neutralizing elements to bring different visual effects. From each finished work, he drinks a cup of Matcha, a bright- green tea.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople wonder why I am throwing so many bowls and testing so many glazes, but it is a wonderful journey about finding,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

[Editor’s note: This story appeared in the May 25, 2011<\/em> University Gazette.]<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In art professor Yun Nam\u2019s studio, ceramic tea bowls stack on every surface. In the throwing room, bowls crowd the shelves. Outside amid toasty kilns, bowls sit on ware carts, nested into tiny towers. Each is a part of Nam\u2019s journey. For years, he purchased his clay from commercial dealers and never considered the origin […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":354,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-353","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fine-arts-humanities"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/353","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=353"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/353\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/354"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=353"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=353"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=353"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}