リュ・ジェユン Ryu Jeyoon

1990 Born in Korea
2009 Graduated from Korea Pottery High School (Korea)
2013 Completed the exchange program at The Eugeniusz Geppert Academy of Art and Design in Wroclaw (Poland)
2015 Graduated from Kyung Hee University with a bachelor’s degree in ceramic art(Korea)
2019 Completed Ceramics Research Course in Kyoto City University of Arts (Japan)
2021 Completed master’s degree in ceramics from Graduate School of Art, Kyoto City University of Arts (Japan)
Currently lives in Kyoto, and works in Korea, Japan, Taiwan and China.

Solo Exhibitions
2025 “The Bird I Met at the Edge of Life” gallery NEUTRAL, Kyoto
2025 “Ceramic Shadows and Mountain Landscapes” LUTRA GALLERY, TSUTAYA, Shanghai, China
2024 “LIFE MONSTER” Marco Gallery, Osaka
2024 “The Mountain Moves” gallery Main, Kyoto
2023 “Dream of the Swamp, Room of the Swamp” studio J, Osaka
2023 ” Still Alive Heroes” Gallery KKI, Seoul
2022 “Letters to My Homeland” Gallery SEIN, Seoul

Group Exhibitions
2025 “A Seagull Between Two Islands” Kyoto Tsutaya Books, supoorted by YUMEKOUBOU Gallery, Kyoto
2025 “A Shimmering Island in the Forest” Gallery IN HQ, Seoul
2025 “Literal Collisions” Finch Arts, Kyoto
2024 “Saturday Night Once More” WALL_alternative, Tokyo
2024 “TOY” Marco Gallery, Osaka
2024 “Yokai Society” platform A, Seoul
2024 “Saturday Night Once More” WALL_alternative, Tokyo
2023 “Old & New” Seonkyojang, Gangneung, South Korea
2022 “Ceramic Mountain Exhibition” Kumagusku Art Hostel, Kyoto
2022 “Resonance and Contrast with Contemporary Japanese Ceramics” Sokyo Gallery Annex, Kyoto
2022 “For the Voyage” Hall Keiryu, Kyoto
2021 “Kyoto City University of Arts Graduation Exhibition 2021” Kyocera Museum of Art, Kyoto
2021 “The Intentional and the Unintentional” Euljiro OF, Seoul
2021 “OBJECT 2021 – object & book -” ROHM Theatre Kyoto, Kyoto
2021 “RC Ceramics Market” RC HOTEL, Kyoto
2021 “KITEMITE Nakanoshima 2021” Osaka Prefectural Nakanoshima Library, Osaka
2020 “Korea-Japan International Student Exchange Exhibition” Osaka Embassy, Osaka
2018 “Kyoto City University of Arts International Student Exchange Exhibition 2018” Aqua Gallery, Kyoto
2017 “Tradition and Change – International Ceramics Invitational Exhibition” Hanyang University Museum, Seoul
2015 “An Unfamiliar Exhibition by Unfamiliar People” National Assembly Building, Seoul

Art Fairs
2025 “TOKYO GENDAI”　heart of gold with Daisuke Ishizuka, YUMEKOUBOU Gallery, Yokohama
2025 “ARTISTS’ FAIR KYOTO 2025 Special Exhibition: FREEDOM” / Shimogamo Saryo, Kyoto
2024 “Craft Trend Fair 2024” COEX, Seoul
2024 “Art Kaohsiung” imavision gallery, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
2024 “West Bund Art Fair 2024” LUTRA GALLERY, Shanghai, China
2024 “Kyoto Antique Fair” Yumekobo Gallery, Kyoto
2024 “ART AMOY INTERNATIONAL” LUTRA GALLERY, Xiamen, China
2024 “ARTIST’S FAIR KYOTO 2024” Kyoto National Museum, Kyoto
2024 “HANKYU ART FAIR” Hankyu Umeda Department Store, Osaka
2024 “ART OSAKA” studio J, Osaka
2024 “ART TAICHUNG” imavision gallery, Taichung, Taiwan
2023 “ART OSAKA” studio J, Osaka
2024 “ART TAIPEI 2023” Marco Gallery, Taipei

The One Who Walks with Clay

Clay has been my companion for more than half of my life, the one I have known the longest. At times, it is my greatest confidant and most reliable friend, while at other times, it clashes with me, leading to conflicts and eventual reconciliation. Clay is also a being that reveals actions and outcomes I could never have anticipated.
The works I have created alongside this clay have changed form as my life has evolved, sometimes allowing the clay itself to take the lead.

I was born on Baengnyeong Island, a small island at the northernmost tip of South Korea. My journey has taken me through Incheon, Seoul, and Suwon, and eventually to Kyoto, Japan. Adapting to new environments and encounters has been a process much like how clay emerges from the kiln in forms that defy the maker’s intentions.
Even amidst these changes, what I have consistently sought is an exploration of the essence of humanity and life itself.

All the works I have created, guided by the flow of my heart and mind, are ultimately the result of my effort to love humanity, including myself.
This effort has taken the form of capturing the beauty of nature, or shaping small animals. The process of transferring the intense emotions burning within me into clay, piece by piece, transcended mere creation. It was not an act of escaping anguish, as Sisyphus endlessly rolls his boulder, but rather an act of embracing anguish as an integral part of life.

Recently, my works have begun to frequently feature birds, even without my conscious awareness. This reflects the isolation and loneliness I experienced after settling in Japan, compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic, and my longing for those I wished to see.
Amid this solitude, I was compelled to delve deeply into my inner self to keep moving forward. From the darkest recesses of my mind to the purest desire to love others, I explored the diverse facets of my inner world. Through this process, I finally came to accept life and all the emotions that arise within it, even those deemed negative, such as loneliness and hardship.

The emotions I poured into my works during this struggle brought me a sense of liberation and gradually guided my life in a better direction.
I came to realize that denial and affirmation always coexist. Even within the same day, one can feel both happiness and despair. Life is like a living beast—sometimes I hold its leash and lead it, while at other times, I am pulled along by its overwhelming strength. This reversal of control mirrors my relationship with clay.
The bird forms that began to appear on the edges of my life eventually filled my heart, and the desire to express them through my works grew stronger and more intense.

In Hermann Hesse’s Demian, he writes, “The bird fights its way out of the egg. The egg is the world. Who would be born must first destroy a world. The bird flies to God. That God’s name is Abraxas.”
This passage resonates deeply with my life, which has been a series of departures from comfortable, protective environments and adaptations to new realities.
Soaring high to observe humanity and life, and seeking truth within them, my journey will not cease, even if it leads to a fall like Icarus. My desire to love humanity will continue to guide me toward new forms, always with my companion, clay, by my side.