Making Korean Onggi Pottery in North Carolina: Clay Body, Glaze, Firing and Aesthetic Approach

Abstract

Onggi is a traditional style of Korean utilitarian pottery. Potters have been using the Onggi traditional building, glazing and firing techniques to make pottery for storing and fermenting food for thousands of years. Although no longer relevant as the main storage vessels for food in Korea, Onggi jars have become an art form in recent times. As a potter still tied to traditional building and firing techniques, I am making large vessels based on the Korean tradition of Onggi, and infusing them with an artistic interpretation. Making the transition to an American pottery environment posed four avenues of research necessary to produce large vessels: clay body, glaze, firing environment, and the artistic elevation of traditional Onggi jars. My research shows how traditional Onggi building methods can be used to make large vessels using the materials, equipment, and atmosphere in North Carolina and how these same circumstances enhance the artistic evolution of the simple Onggi storage vessel.