Jeamin Seung showcases 'Greatness of Women' in Naples exhibit

Arts & Design

Published: 16 Oct. 2023, 16:53 Updated: 15 Nov. 2023, 21:49

Jeamin Seung showcases 'Greatness of Women' in Naples exhibit

Jeamin Seung, center, speaks about her artwork during the opening reception of a special exhibit, "The Greatness of Women," at the Naples Fashion Museum in Naples, Italy on Oct. 12. [NAPLES FASHION MUSEUM]

Seung's new work for the Naples exhibit, titled "Fertile Land VI" [JEAMIN SEUNG]

The Museo Della Moda, or the Naples Fashion Museum in Naples, Italy, is celebrating “The Greatness of Women” in its titular new special exhibit.

For the exhibit, which kicked off on Oct. 12, it has invited different artists from across the globe — from Korea, it invited Jeamin Seung, whose work has focused on expressing the power and beauty of women. She creates white porcelain moon jars, two-dimensional moon jars and ceramic female torsos to use as a canvas to paint objects that symbolize women, mainly pomegranates, to “spotlight how beautiful, how great and how powerful they are.”

And since it’s a fashion museum, the museum had asked Seung to collaborate with a fashion designer; The artist says she instantly thought of Chung Youn-min.

"Deliberate Cell Division-Sister Spirit V" [JEAMIN SEUNG]

"Cell Division-Life flourishes at midnight II" [JEAMIN SEUNG]

“She designed the outfits for the Korean National Ballet’s traditional Korean work ‘Heo Nan Seol Heon – Su Wol Kyung Hwa’ and I fell in love with her work,” Seung said. “I instantly knew that she understood the beauty and the power of women.”

Chung has designed dresses worn by artists like violinist Chung Kyung-Wha, Zia Hyunsu Shin, Kim Bomsori and cellist Chung Myung-Wha, as well as ballet dancers Kang Sue-jin, Kim Ju-won and Hwang Hye-min.

Traditional beauty, in a new shape: Artist Jeamin Seung adds color and femininity to iconic Korean ceramics

“My prior works enhanced the art world's brilliance, but for this exhibit, I attempt to convey my journey as a woman,” Chung said. “Collaborating with Seung, who celebrates women through pomegranates, I found deeper meaning in this fruit. I believe I have encapsulated my own meaning of womanhood in the dresses I’ve created for the exhibit.”

For the Naples exhibit, Seung is exhibiting a total of 14 works under the theme “Cell Division, New Motherhood and Sister Spirit,” while Chung exhibits three dresses inspired by Seung’s works, under another theme, “The Beauty of Existence.”

Seung’s distinctive style of artwork and her interest in the meaning of womanhood can be traced back through her unique history as an artist. She majored in art history and archaeology at Seoul National University and then obtained a master’s degree in women’s studies at San Jose State University.

Despite her passion for art and women’s studies, she said she had to give that up, or put it “on hold,” to look after her children and do housework, like many other women her age.

After all her children were old enough, Seung made her artist debut in 2004. That same year, she won the silver prize at the International Porcelain Artists and Teachers (IPAT) Biennale, and in the following year, IPAT held the First World Convention of China Painting in Lisbon, where Seung won the gold. Her first domestic solo exhibit was in 2020 at the Noblesse Collection gallery, titled “Life in a Moon Jar.”

Jeamin Seung's new work titled "Regeneration-Untitled II" is currently on exhibit at the Naples Fashion Museum in Naples, Italy. [JEAMIN SEUNG]

Though the exhibition was titled “Life in a Moon Jar,” the exhibit showcased how her life is finally outside the jar, beyond the boundaries of convention.

White porcelain jars of the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910), called moon jars, are probably the best representation of traditional Korean artwork, and Seung selected it as her canvas to rediscover Korean aesthetics. As for the pomegranate, she was attracted to it as it is a sacred fruit that represents birth, life and fertility both in Eastern and Western cultures. But by painting pomegranates on the surface of such elegant moon jars, Seung attempts to portray womanhood of the 21st century.

Fashion designer Chung Youn-min's white dress featuring Seung's paintings of pomegranates [CHUNG YOUN-MIN]

In fact, she said, she herself was hesitant to paint such bright colored pomegranates on the porcelain moon jars, considered “elegant and sacred for Koreans,” and was scared that her works might be frowned upon. But she knew she had to “break that mold.”

“My intention is also to redefine the Joseon moon jar as a work of Korean contemporary art by incorporating colors of the present day.”

Hearing Seung’s story, Chung says she, too, had always felt like a “hidden pomegranate” as a young girl, and that her passion for fashion was “concealed underneath all the lace of the dresses.”

Chung’s dresses for this exhibit feature Seung’s pomegranates.

“The white dress I created for this exhibit with pomegranates symbolizes my determination [for a new womanhood],” Chung said.

"This collaborative exhibition at the Naples Fashion Museum has been a valuable opportunity to infuse fresh inspiration into my work,” Seung said. “While preparing for the exhibition, I had many conversations with Chung, and in our exchanges, I felt a deep sense of fellowship and what I call ‘sister spirit.’ This sense of unity reminded me of how strong and great women can be when we work together. Even though she and I work in different areas, we were able to communicate with each other through an artistic language stemming from our common experience of womanhood. This collaboration led each of us as artists to discover a new vision, previously unseen in our individual artistic experiences.”

BY YIM SEUNG-HYE [yim.seunghye@joongang.co.kr]