In 1987, when Young-Jae Lee became the director of Keramische Werkstatt Margaretenhöhe, a ceramic workshop in Essen, Germany, its Bauhaus roots had mostly faded. Born in Seoul, where she was raised in a traditional Confucian and Buddhist household, Lee developed an appreciation for nature, motion, and time—qualities essential to ceramics, from the spinning of the wheel to the touch of the clay. Since taking over Keramische Werkstatt, Lee and her colleague Hildegard Eggemann have revived its Bauhaus legacy, blending ideals of accessibility and simplicity with the functionality of Korean design. Now 73, Lee experiments with light and shadow in her work, particularly through her signature spindle vases, with their defined shapes and sleek curves. “In many ways, her vessels serve as sources of enlightenment,” the Indian artist Tharini Sankarasubramanian wrote for Lee’s current show at David Nolan Gallery. “Lee doesn’t seek to create something ‘new’ but rather succeeds in seeing things in a new manner.” And oh, those colors. —Jeanne Malle
November 16, 2024
