Makers have transformed the ancient technique of applied, molded, low-relief decoration by developing innovative materials. The Dionysiac figures on the beaker from Pergamon are clearly applied since they lift slightly from the vessel at their edges. British industrial ceramics pioneer Josiah Wedgwood developed an extraordinary palette of stoneware for contrasting appliqués, creating cameo effects popularized by his quintessential white-on-powder-blue ceramics.

The underside of this West Mexican vessel reveals the fanged jaws of a personified sacred cave. This supernatural scene is part of a story of creation that unfolds across the surface, depicting the epic origins of a Mesoamerican birth and water ritual. Artists across many cultures have harnessed the sculptural features of three-dimensional ceramics to tell essential stories. Gerardo Monterrubio covers his robust porcelains with muralistic renderings, using the curves, crevices, and cracks to transition between dream-like scenes.

This volley of sixty blue-and-white porcelain arrows suspended in mid-air would surely shatter on impact. By choosing the fragile material, multidisciplinary artist Nicholas Galanin relates the arrows’ loss of function to the ongoing colonization of Indigenous people in the United States. Of Tlingit and Unangax̂ descent, he appropriated the look of historical blue-and-white European ceramics to connect the Indigenous American experience to the exploitative history of international colonial trade networks.

The Century vase illustrated below was originally exhibited at the 1876 Centennial International Exposition in Philadelphia, where it stood among other patriotic displays of technical achievement. A smaller version of the piece shown at the fair, the vessel on view in the gallery replicates the original’s nationalist iconography, depicting Revolutionary War heroes and scenes of Western conquest.

Bulguk Temple, constructed in the year 774, is both a National Treasure and a UNESCO World Heritage site. Park Dae Sung’s landscape scene of it exemplifies his consciousness of the medium. With fine brushstrokes, he uses negative space as the snow itself, capturing the serenity and silence of a setting blanketed in fresh snow. Following his trip to study in New York in 1995, Park lodged at Bulguk Temple for about a year.

Namsan is considered a sacred site in Gyeongju, the capital of the Silla kingdom (57 BCE–935 CE). In this work, Park Dae Sung, whose home is in Gyeongju, incorporates a multitude of sculptures and architectural structures of culturally important sites, such as Cheomseongdae. Park’s versatility of forms and brushwork is evident in the undulating abstract style.

The Diamond Mountain range, located in present-day North Korea, is one of the most revered mountain ranges of the Korean peninsula. Since the Joseon dynasty (1392–1910), before the peninsula was divided, literati painters often paid homage to the Diamond Mountains in a realistic and traditional rendering. This reimagined scene indicates Park Dae Sung’s roots—learning from the ways of the old masters—as well as his openness to contemporary experimentation, as manifested by his bold and dynamic strokes. 

Listen to the voices of Mamo Camilo Izquierdo and Jaison Pérez Villafaña (Arhuaco elders) as you participate in a guided exercise of deep thinking and reflection related to the concepts and works presented in this exhibition. (4 minutes)