JANE YANG-D’HAENE

‘Earthbound’ showcases Yang-D’Haene’s new body of ceramic works celebrating the artist’s journey of reconnection with her birthplace of South Korea. Drawing upon her early memories of the country’s landscape, Yang-D’Haene reinterprets a traditional form that has long fascinated her: the dalhangari, or Moon Jar. In redefining these smooth porcelain ceramics, she translates the mountains, rice fields and seas of her homeland into richly textured surfaces. The Moon Jar thus becomes Yang-D’Haene’s framework for experimentation with gestures and glazing, which she uses to suggest narratives coloured by deeply personal memories. Engaged in a dialogue between material and maker, her approach is process driven and experimental, working with blends of clay and varied glazes, creating hand-built forms fired multiple times which test the limits of her material.

These experimentations demonstrate Yang-D’Haene’s long-held desire to push the boundaries of her medium. Juxtaposing radically different finishes, she creates tension between interior and exterior, form and function, and at the same time conveys a sense of touch, imperfection and irregularity. Her practice explores her South Korean heritage and her identity as an American and Brooklynite equally—cultural orientations that meld together to produce a distinctive character in the work.