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Talking about his series of Moon Jars, Jaejun Lee said: 'I actually had hesitated to make Moon Jars for many years as I believed my sensibility for my world of...
Talking about his series of Moon Jars, Jaejun Lee said: "I actually had hesitated to make Moon Jars for many years as I believed my sensibility for my world of work is aiming at a much more modern taste. As a Korean potter, I felt like there were many rules for Moon Jar-making.
Moon jars we treasure most, are all from hundreds of years ago and many makers still want to get close to them. I love them, too, but I didn't want my work to be close to the old moon jars. So, I borrowed the name of it and the feeling of it to make my own one.
The plan for making moon jars started from trying to establish my own identity as a Korean artist living the UK. When I first tried a moon jar in 2019, Korean culture was in the early stages of being recognised world wide, but most people still had very limited experiences of it. As a Korean artist working in the UK, drawing upon the traditions of the moon jar as a symbolic vessel was pretty essential.
When I came to the UK, I tried to explain my identity as a Korean first rather than showing my own character. In my case, this tendency was strongly related to the medium I use. I thought my porcelain should be understood with the knowledge of Korean porcelain history as I am in that context and working within that history.
Through making moon jars, I hoped people would get interested in Korean porcelain history as well as my work. There were still many concerns of how I would transform the traditional moon jar to the modern moon jar, but when I started to draw upon the form it was a totally different world. From the prejudice and restrictions, I found the infinite possibilities. They have been expressed by forms. In the hearts of Korean potters, they all have their own images of moon jars and now I think I have my own one. It will be the future treasure made in the UK in the 21st Century and I hope it will leave the same legacy as the one that is loved so much from the Joseon Dynasty (Former country of Korea)."