TAYLOE PIGGOTT GALLERY ANNOUNCES BECOMING
AN EXHIBITION OF STONEWARE BY JANE YANG D’HAENE
Exhibition Dates: 17 December 2022 – 29 January 2023
JACKSON HOLE, WYOMING – TAYLOE PIGGOTT GALLERY is pleased to present Becoming, a solo exhibition of work by artist Jane Yang D’Haene, on view December 17th, 2022 through January 29th, 2023. An artist's reception will be held on Saturday, December 17th, from 5 - 7 pm. The artist will be in attendance. All are welcome.
Becoming presents a selection of stoneware vessels drawn upon Jane Yang D’Haene’s Korean heritage. Though descended from traditional ceramic forms, such as the dal hang-ari or Moon Jar, D’Haene’s vessels depart from this history as she experiments with surface, lending her work a sculptural quality. Diverging from the smooth white exterior of the original vessels, D’Haene employs a variety of glazes and techniques to create texture, movement and tonal shifts. In doing so, D’Haene creates planetary forms, mimicking the earth from which the clay itself is drawn.
By working within a historical narrative, D’Haene is able to push the formal boundaries of her medium. This play between form and function elevates the work, introducing a conceptual challenge to the viewer. By confronting traditional forms, D’Haene highlights her own innovations. With her experimentation, D’Haene abandons a lifelong pursuit of perfection, instead creating beauty through imperfection. She expands upon the anomalies of form and color historically created during firing, a process that leaves much to chance. D’Haene embraces imperfection with intention, capturing its aesthetic value. She points towards the balance created between various opposing forces in her work. The vessels are simultaneously terrestrial and other-worldly, abstracted and functional. The work, though derived from tradition, is unconventional.
As all artists must, D’Haene reckons with the long history of her medium that came before her. She embraces the framework of this history while pushing against it, using tradition as a vehicle for innovation. D’Haene situates herself not as a designer working within the confines of her medium, but as an artist actively toying with the conceptual and technical possibilities of it.
Born in South Korea, Jane Yang-D’Haene draws upon her cultural heritage to create unexpected ceramic work. After moving to New York City in 1984, D’Haene attended the Cooper Hewitt School of Architecture from 1988 to 1992. She went on to work as an interior designer for a major architectural firm, honing her eye for masterful design. However, D’Haene’s own work has evolved past this realm. Since beginning her work in ceramics in 2016, D’Haene has experimented with form and function, quickly establishing herself as an artist capable of innovating the medium. D’Haene often works within the language of traditional Korean ceramic forms, using parts of this long-standing history as a vehicle for experimentation. She builds upon these forms, integrating contemporary techniques, colors, and textures to create sculptural vessels that toe the line between art and design. Through this manipulation of her medium and reinterpretation of her history, D’Haene creates one-of-a-kind objects that breathe new life into a centuries old craft.
