IN STUDIO with Kyeonghwan Lee

IN STUDIO with Kyeonghwan Lee

Korean ceramist, Kyeonghwan Lee explores form, tradition and the quiet beauty of imperfection through his vases and vessels. We met him in Seoul, to hear about Korean craft, working by hand and finding a language of his own.

On Form, Rhythm and Making by Hand

Kyeonghwan Lee - Ceramic Artist

Based in Seoul, Kyeonghwan Lee is a Korean ceramic artist and founder of Baeka Studio. His practice centres on vessel forms shaped through continuous lines, fluid curves and the subtle irregularities that emerge through making. Drawing from the functional history of Korean ceramics without reproducing traditional forms, he approaches clay as both a sculptural material and an object for everyday life.

Before ceramics became central to his practice, Kyeonghwan expressed himself through writing and painting, while also working across fashion and content. For him, these are not separate identities so much as different ways of observing and expressing the same inner world. His work and daily creative practice now reach an international audience of more than 1.6 million followers on Instagram.

Set in a quieter part of Seoul, Baeka Studio opens onto a garden, creating an unexpected sense of calm within the city. It is both Kyeonghwan’s working studio and a place where he teaches others to experience clay firsthand. We visited him there to speak about form, Korean ceramic traditions, daily ritual and the value of making slowly.

Can you tell us about your background and how your practice began?

“I began working seriously with ceramics about two years ago, but I don’t see it as a completely separate beginning. In my early twenties, I was already trying to express what I was thinking and feeling through writing, and I later published a book. Painting followed, and eventually I became drawn to clay because it allowed me to work with volume, weight and touch.

I created Baeka to be more than a place where I simply produce work. Ceramics can be a very solitary practice, but the atmosphere changes when other people enter the studio and work with the same material in their own way. I like seeing different sensibilities meet through one material, so I wanted Baeka to hold both sides - a place for my own practice, but also somewhere others can experience the act of making for themselves.

Looking back, the medium has changed, but the impulse has stayed much the same. My work often begins with something I have seen, heard or felt. A scene, a sound or the residue of an experience can later return as colour, surface or form. Nature influences me, but so do the spaces I build around myself. I’m always observing how objects, light and materials sit together.”

My work begins with what I personally see, hear, and feel. I'm quite sensitive to sensory experience, so I often translate a scene, a sound, or an emotion left behind by something I've lived through into colour and form. Nature has a strong influence on my work, as do the visual elements in how I arrange my studio and the spaces around me.

- Kyeonghwan Lee

Do any traditional Korean philosophies or traditions shape your work?

“I think Korean tradition is present in my work, but not as something I try to reproduce literally. Korea has a long history of vessels made for everyday life - for storing, serving and fermenting - and I’m drawn to their generous volumes, restraint and the way function and irregularity can coexist.

What interests me is that attitude more than any single historical form. I want to carry those qualities forward in a way that feels natural to my own time and sensibility.”

What draws you specifically to the form of the vase?

“A lot of what I love about ceramics comes from line. I’m not interested only in vases, but the vase allows me to explore how one curve continues into another while still remaining functional. I’ve always loved flowers, so I often live with my own vases and arrange flowers in them.

For me, a piece doesn’t necessarily feel complete when it leaves the kiln. Once it holds flowers and becomes part of a room, I begin to see its balance and movement differently.

I don’t want every part of the process to feel over-controlled. Clay moves, glaze flows and fire changes the surface. I make many decisions, but I don’t want to control everything. That balance between intention and what the material does on its own is often where a piece begins to feel alive.”

Function matters to me just as much as sculptural beauty. I've always loved flowers, so I enjoy arranging them in the vases I make.

- Kyeonghwan Lee

Do you have any daily rituals that keep you grounded?

“I enjoy routine, so I begin most days in much the same way: waking early, going to the gym or for a run, then having a meal before I start the day. Because I don’t keep conventional working hours, my days can easily become unstructured, so creating a rhythm for myself is important.

Those small routines keep me grounded. I think that same sense of rhythm carries into ceramics too - repetition makes you more sensitive to small changes. Even when I’m tired, I try to end the day quietly, with reading, writing or sometimes another run.”

“Scent is one of the first things I notice in a space. It can completely change the atmosphere of a room before you consciously register anything else.

My home is filled with my own work, placed throughout different areas, but I like the space itself to remain clean and quiet, with enough room around each object. I also feel best when I have some connection to nature. I enjoy watching the light and landscape outside the windows change through the day and the seasons.

For me, a home begins to feel like home when it carries small traces of how someone actually lives.”

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