Artists selected for the 2009 BIGG: Breakthrough Ideas in Global Glass are:

Artist Statement
I see my artistic process as being involved with a type of recycling, specifically the reuse of Styrofoam packaging materials to create art. I think that one of the artist’s most important roles is to reveal the hidden value inherent within a particular object. By framing the object in a new way, the artist can challenge viewers to rethink the value of everyday objects and encourage them to find aesthetic pleasure in the most seemingly mundane places. In my own work, the recycling of industrial and consumer by-products has led to two distinct avenues of exploration.
One is the search for something inherently artistic in industrial waste materials, and the other is the creation of a wholly new aesthetic value out of the formal elements present within this waste. This last involves a kind of rearranging and refining of the existing formal elements to create a new gestalt. In my work with Styrofoam I try to find something concealed in it. Its only value is conferred to it by the market value of the product it protects. That value is lost as soon as the product it protects is removed. The depreciation is astronomical from a consumer-commodity standpoint, but I think there is still something valuable in it, that the packaging has value as an object itself. My work of recycling packing Styrofoam is then to seek the “value” which is unseen in its material reality. By a simple reframing of a common, expendable material like Styrofoam, the artist can encourage a examination of objects around us. Like many artists that have gone before, I can benefit from reusing recycled objects and materials, taking whatever medium I can find to create works of art. I choose to recycle or reinterpret not only for reflection on environmental issues, but also for fun, play, and ultimately art. It also challenges me to re-interpret the concept of the object, or to search for other artists’ concepts of the object.

Biography
Glass artist Sungsoo Kim was born in South Korea. He received his Masters of Fine Art from Kent State University at Ohio in 2008. During graduate school, he focuses on kiln-casting technique. He works with Styrofoam to reveal the hidden value inherent within a particular object.

Resume
Education
2008    M.F.A. Kent State University, in Glass, Kent, OH, U.S.A.
2006    Pilchuck Glass School – Warren Langley (Architectural & Sculptural Kiln-Formed Glass)
2000    B.F.A. Seoul National University of Technology, in Ceramic Arts, Seoul, South Korea

Teaching Experience
2008-2009    Assistant in the Art Program at Centre College, KY, U.S.A.
2007-2008    Kent State University Assistant Professor

Awards and Grants
2009    Finalist, 2009 NICHE  Awards.  U.S. and Canada
Finalist, 2009 MFA Exhibition Competition at Urban Glass

2008    Finalist, e-merge 2008, Bullseyeglass, Oregon, U.S.A.

2007    Honorable mention, The 5th Cheongju international craft competition, South Korea
Finalist – 2007 NICHE Student Awards.  U.S. and Canada
GAS 2007 Student Scholarship – Glass Art Society

2006    Honorable mention – GLASS ART SOCIETY 36TH Annual Conference International Student Exhibition, MI, U.S.A.
Outstanding academic achievement, Kent state University and Phi Betaz Delta the Honor society for International Scholars

Selected Exhibitions
2009    Solo Exhibition REDISCOVERY OF CENTRE at Jones. Visual Arts Center, KY, U.S.A.
MFA Exhibition in the Robert Lehman Gallery at UrbanGlass, NY, U.S.A.

2008    Solo Exhibition REDISCOVERY at Community Arts Center, KY, U.S.A.
E-MERGE 2008 at Bullseye Glass Co. Oregon, U.S.A.

2007    Light Glassworks Space at Vitgallery, Seoul, South Korea
The 5th Cheongju international craft biennale, Cheongju, South Korea
Philadelphia Buyers Market of American Craft at Philadelphia Convention Center, PA, U.S.A.
Glass Birthday Suit at Pittsburgh Glass Center, Pittsburgh, PA, U.S.A

2006    Springboard at Schumacher Gallery Columbus, OH, U.S.A.
BE OPEN at Open center   NYC, NY, U.S.A.
2150° FAHRENHEIT at Summit art space   Akron, OH, U.S.A.
EXPLORATIONS at Millworks Gallery   Akron, OH, U.S A.

2003    Solo Exhibition FLOW at Gallery CHANG  Seoul, South Korea

Selected Articles
2007    GLASS (The Urban Glass Art Quarterly), Director’s Cut – “The best work from the top glass programs”   Issue106, spring 2007 pp.Cover & 36

2005    CRART (Craft magazine, South Korea), “12 Young Artist” – April 2005 pp.36-37
CRART (Craft magazine, South Korea), “12 Young Artist” - December 2005 pp.25

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