SunYoung Park (b. 1990, South Korea) explores the fragile and imperfect beauty of human connection through ceramics and mixed media, weaving surrealist gestures and borderlands into her sculptural language. Her work navigates emotional terrains where personal memory and collective longing merge into symbolic form. Park holds BFA and MFA degrees from Hongik University in Seoul and an MFA from Southern Illinois University Carbondale. She has participated in residencies at Clayarch Gimhae Museum, Charlotte Street Foundation, and the Wassaic Project, and her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally at venues including the Jingdezhen International Ceramic Biennale, Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, and Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art. She is currently an Artist in Residence at the Interdisciplinary Ceramic Research Center (ICRC) at the University of Kansas.
Education
2021 MFA Art, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL
2017 MFA Ceramics, Hongik University, Seoul, South Korea
2014 BFA Ceramics and Glass, Hongik University, Seoul, South Korea
Residency and Academic Positions
2026 Studio MASS MoCA, North Adams, MA
2021 - 2023 Belger Arts Center, Kansas City, MO
2022 - 2024 Charlotte Street Foundation, Kansas City, MO
2023 Wassaic Project Summer Residency, Wassaic, NY
2017 Clayarch Gimhae Museum Creative Studio, Gimhae, Korea
2022 – 2025 Adjunct Professor
Metropolitan Community College, Kansas City, MO Courses: Drawing I, Ceramics I & III
2023 – 2024 Lecturer
Kansas City Art Institute, Kansas City, MO
Courses: Botanical Forms in Clay: Discovery, Imagination, and Invention
Senior Professional Practice
2025 - 2026 Artist in Residence & Lecturer
The Interdisciplinary Ceramics Research Center, University of Kansas, KS
SOLO EXHIBITION
Simulated Bodies: Nature as Flesh, Clay as Thought, Lawrence Arts Center, Lawrence, KS,(Oct-Dec 2025)
Wassaic Project Winter Exhibition, Wassaic, NY (Dec 2023-Mar 2024)
Among the Islands of Flowing Memories, Beco Gallery, Kansas City, MO(Aug 2022)
Momentary Tension, Curiouser & Curiouser, Kansas City, KS (Feb 2022)
Translation of Reality, Carbondale Community Arts Space 304, Carbondale, IL(Apr 2021)
GROUP EXHIBITION
2025
- Nevertheless, She Persisted, Daum Museum of Contemporary Art, Sedalia, MO
- Door County Contemporary Art Fair, Special Effects Gallery, Fish Creek, WI
- New Palissystes, Stroll Garden Summer Pop-up Show, East Hampton, NY
- One Bedroom Apartment, Gallery Bogart, Kansas City, MO
- And Now By Hand, Ke-Sook Lee, Margo Kren and SunYoung Park, the Volland Foundation, Alma, KS
- Alive & Unfolding, International Contemporary Ceramic Art Triennial, Andenne, Belgium
- Karaoke Night, Troost Garden, KC, MO
- Spring Break Art Show, Dead X Center, NYC, NY
- No Reason for Such Moments to End, Sarah Crown Gallery, NYC, NY
- Puff Puff Puff Pass, Kiosk Gallery, KC, MO
- Sun And Moon, Habitat Contemporary, KC, MO
- Miss/They Camaraderie, Curated by Yashi Davalos, CSF Gallery, Kansas City, MO
- Conditional Surroundings, ETSU Tipton Gallery, Johnson City, TN
- Milestone, Belger Arts Center, Kansas City, MO
- Visual Artist Award Exhibition, Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, KS
- Lamp-Lighter, Vulpes Bastille, Kansas City, MO
- Women to Watch 2024, Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, MO
- GROUNDWORK: Annual Resident Show, Belger Arts Center, Kansas City, MO
- Plant Playground: A Planter Show, KC Urban Potters, Kansas City, MO
- Sugar Mountain (with Eleanor Foy and Caroline Stran), Ekru Project, Kansas City, MO
- Visiting Artist Show, UCM Art Gallery, Warrensburg, MO
- Jingdezhen International Ceramic Art Biennale, Jingdezhen, China
- 7° Salon international art résilience, Musée de Peinture de Saint-Frajou, France
- The 4th International Conference on Arts and Design Education (ICADE), Tsinghua, China
- Hard & Soft, Center for Visual Arts 400 Block, Wausau, WI
- LAST CALL VI, Companion Gallery, Humboldt, TN
- Metal and Mud: A Juried Exhibition of Jewelry and Ceramic Cups, Edwardsville Arts Center, Edwardsville, IL
- Constructed Visions III, Saint Louis Artist guild, St. Louis, MO
- Porous languages, UARK Sculpture Gallery, Fayetteville, AR
- Drip, Morean Center for Clay, St. Petersburg, FL
2018
- C4 Juried Exhibition curated by Brian Jobe, Surplus Gallery, Carbondale, IL
- Merge, Surplus Gallery, Carbondale, IL
- Do Jak Ga, Galeryiang, Seoul, Korea
2017
- Cross over “+a”, MiLAL Fine Art Museum, Seoul, Korea
- Youthful Zest, ClayArch Museum, Gimhae, South Korea
- Hongik University MFA Thesis exhibition, HOMA, Seoul, Korea
2016
- Contemporary Ceramic Art in East Asia, NTCRI, Taipei, Taiwan
- Platform C, Moksan gallery, Seoul, Korea
- Hongik University 70th International Exchange Exhibition, HOMA, Seoul, Korea
- Craft Trend Fair, Coex, Seoul, Korea
- The 12th Ceramic Arts Award of Korea, Incheon, Korea
- The 34th Seoul Contemporary Ceramic Arts Contest, Seoul, Korea
- Contemporary Ceramic Art in East Asia, China Academy of Art, Hangzhou
- Three Colors of Clays (ceramic review exhibition), A&D Gallery, Suwon, Korea
Awards, Scholarships, and Honors
2023
- Emergency Grants, Foundation for Contemporary Arts, NY
- Charlotte Street Foundation Visual Artist Award, Kansas City, MO
- Byron C. Cohen Award, Kansas City, MO
- Artist Relief Grant ($5,000), United States Artists, Chicago, IL
- Windgate Charitable Foundation Graduate Research Grants, 1st Place
- Graduate Assistant Fellowship, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL
- Hongik Scholarship, Hongik University Graduate School, Seoul, South Korea
2015
- Special Selection, Seoul Contemporary Ceramic Art Contest, Seoul, South Korea
- Special Selection, Korea Ceramics Competition, Incheon, South Korea
- Selection, Seoul Contemporary Ceramic Art Contest, Seoul, South Korea
- Hongik Scholarship, Hongik University, Seoul, South Korea
Teaching Experience
Spring 2023, Fall 2025
- Visiting Critic, University of Kansas, Lawrence KS
- Kim Jang Workshop with Sean Nash, Nerman Museum, Overland Park, KS
- Studio Night: Still-life Drawing Session, Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, MO
- Adjunct Assistant Professor, Johnson County Community College, Overland Park, KS Courses: Ceramics I & II
- Visiting Artist, Johnson County Community College, Overland Park, KS
- Visiting Critic, Kansas City Art Institute, Kansas City, MO
- Adjunct Assistant Professor, Johnson County Community College, Overland Park, KS
- Visiting Artist Workshop, University of Central Missouri, Warrensburg, MO
- Visiting Critic, Kansas City Art Institute, Kansas City, MO
- Beginning Ceramics, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL
- Virtual Workshop “Introduction to Clay” (mixing with various materials), Hongik University, Seoul, South Korea
- Virtual Workshop “Introduction to Glaze,” Hongik University, Seoul, South Korea
- Virtual Visiting Lecturer, Undergraduate and Graduate Seminar, Hongik University, Seoul, South Korea
Technical Experience
The University Museum Curator Assistant (2018 – 2021), Carbondale, IL
Ceramic Department Studio Technician (2018 – 2019), Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL
Gallery Yido Business Training Internship (2011), Seoul, South Korea
Artist Assistant
Ceramic Sculptor, Rain Harris, Kansas City, MO (2021)
Installation, Performance Artist Ok-sang Lim, Goyang, Korea (2017 – 2018)
MUSEUM COLLECTION
Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, Overland Park, KS
Spencer Museum of Art, Lawrence, KS
PUBLIC PRESS / Exposure
(Publication)Monthly Ceramic Art Korea(March 2025) Korean Ceramic Artists Putting Down New Roots (Publication)Monthly Ceramic Art Korea(Feb 2025) The City of Ceramics- Kansas City from Art Education to Creation by SunYoung Park
KC Studio Magazine (Sep/Oct 2024) Ambiguous narratives and wild imaginings in colored pencil, review by Dana Self
KC Studio Magazine (March2024) Explorations of reality, nature and human sensuality challenge the sense and the mind, review by Harold Smith
CANVAS REBEL Magazine (Feb 2024) Stories & Insights: Meet SunYoung Park
Sixty inches from Center (Dec 2023) Review: Charlotte Street Visual Artist Award Exhibition by David Alpert
De kleine K; independent Dutch ceramics magazine (June 2023), Artist Interview, P.14
CatCall Magazine (June 2022) Women to Watch- A new world 2024, online article by Nicole Mitchell
KC Studio Magazine (July 2022), Studio Visit Interview
Al-Tiba9 Art Magazine, Original 10(April 2022), Featured Artist
PEER:Artist Spotlight Series #13(April 2022), Artist Talk, Charlotte Street Foundation, Kansas City, MO
NCECA Journal (March 2022), Vol.42, p.110(Roundtable Discussion: Growing Seeds)
Ceramic Monthly (October 2021), p. 24
Gimhae Clavarch Museum “Youthful Zest” (December 2017)
Gimhae News (May 2017), vol. 325
Seoul Art Guide, “A Journey Not Yet Complete” (2017), by Sunyoung Lee