Yeonsoo Kim was born in Haenam, South Korea. He is currently a resident artist at the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft.
Kim earned his Master of Fine Arts degree in Ceramics at Lamar Dodd School of Art, University of Georgia in Athens, GA. He achieved his Bachelor of Fine Arts in ceramics and glass from the Hongik University located in Seoul. Kim has held apprenticeships with Onggi masters in Jeolla-do(Hayngjong-Oh) and Gyeongsang-do(Jinkyu Huh) in Korea.
Kim has won multiple awards; His most recent recognition is being from the National Council on Education the Ceramic Arts (NCECA) for, which granted him one of the top six Emerging Artist for the Year 2020 Award.
He has participated in several artist residency programs, including the Baltimore Clayworks, Korea Ceramic Foundation, Montana State University, and the Archie Bray Foundation. Kim has exhibited nationally and internationally and recently had a solo exhibition at the Signature Contemporary Craft in Atlanta. GA.
My desire is to find and develop my aesthetic sense by focusing on the relationship of the old and the new. The interest in this relationship is getting wider and wider until it reaches human, nature, and space. Until now, a lot of effort and time were spent for develop my works, yet I want to create more inspirational and touching works that integrate both technique and ideas through ceaseless efforts while developing my artistic views and values.
I tasked myself with the job of creating a new hand-built vessel of mask daily. The works, in accumulation act as a type of diary or as a call “to listen to my inner voice.” My works explore identity and psychological conditions through the processes of making and daily life.