Koi Neng Liew: Play Thing @ the Esplanade in Medicine Hat

Koi Neng Liew’s large-scale sculptures have a powerfully physical
presence inhabited by an elusive yet evocative sense of human spirit. In
this new work he presents a meditation on childhood and fatherhood, as
seen through the lens of play with his son.

Liew comments: “My son has a very different childhood than I did. He
has hundreds of toys: cars, planes, guns, action figures, videos
and Lego. I watch him as he imagines he is Megatron or Iron Man; he
creates his own alter ego, embodying the toys we play with. Fatherhood
has created an opportunity to relive my childhood. I play as though I am
a child again, but realize that in my son’s  eyes I am just as much a
toy as the ‘play-thing’.”

Koi Neng Liew is originally from Singapore, where he studied at the
Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts. He received a BFA from the New York State
College of Ceramics at Alfred University in 2001, and an MFA from the
University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 2005. Liew is the recipient of
numerous awards including the Roswell Artist in Residence 2008 grant in
New Mexico, and a 2005 Taunt Fellowship at the Archie Bray Foundation in
Montana. He is a featured artist in the Clay Art International Yearbook
published in Athens, Greece, and has exhibited in Canada, the United
States and China over the past 10 years. In 2010 Liew undertook the
year-long Artist Residency in the Medalta IAIR program and now is a
faculty instructor at Medicine Hat College in Visual Communications.

Jan 14 – Feb 25

Public Reception with the Artist
FRI Feb 3 | 7 PM

Esplanade Arts and Heritage Centre
401 First St SE, Medicine Hat, AB T1A 8W2
Hours: Mon-Fri 9AM-5PM / Sat 12-5PM
Statutory Holidays and Sundays CLOSED

www.esplanade.ca
www.koinengliew.ca

Visiting Artist Workshop with Kyungmin Park

Date: 

Saturday, March 4, 2017, 10:00am to 5:00pm

Location: 

Ceramics Program, 224 Western Avenue, Allston, MA 02134
Presented by: Ceramics Program, Office for the Arts at Harvard
Workshop Description:
Sculptor Kyungmin Park
will demonstrate the construction of her figurative sculptures in
porcelain in this one-day workshop. Park will demonstrate how to achieve
crisp lines and clean, tight surfaces with simple tools. She will also
explore conceptual ideas and talk about the importance of facial
expression and symbology within her work. From Park, “A child’s untamed
imagination can create a new and exciting owrld out of a single object.
The combination of an uncorrupted point of view, a strong imagination,
overflowing curiosity, and the desire to push boundaries creates a very
special mindset particular to children. The adult world, by contrast,
restrains the formally infinite imagination by imposing responsibilities
and practical concerns. Society puts limits on the way we, as
individuals, can perceive things, and as an artist I an interested in
expanding these confines.”
The cost for this one-day workshop with Kyungmin Park: Free for Harvard Undergraduate students; $50 for Harvard Graduate
students; $75 for adults enrolled in a course; $125 for adults not
enrolled in a course. To register, download our registration form
here or email Shawn Panepinto at [email protected].
Questions? Email Kathy King at [email protected].
This workshop will feature a one-hour pot luck lunch break for those participating.
Artist Biography:
Kyungmin Park is
an Assistant Professor of 3D Studio Art at Endicott College in Beverly,
MA. Originally from South Korea, she earned her Master of Fine Arts
degree from the University of Georgia in 2012 and her Bachelor of Fine
Arts from the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University in
2006. Kyungmin was a 2014-2016 long-term resident artist at the Archie
Bray Foundation in Helena, MT. She was also awarded a 2014-2015
Matsutani Fellowship, 2015-2016 Windgate Fellowship and 2014 Windgate
Summer scholarship by the Archie Bray Foundation. In 2016, Kyungmin
received an Emerging Artist Award from Ceramics Monthly magazine. In
2016, she was also honored to be recognized as an Emerging Artist by the
National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA) conference
in Kansas City, MO.
Her work has been featured in many national
and international exhibitions including the Aqua Art Miami Basel,
Galerie Aqui Siam Ben in Vallaruris, France, Morean Art Center,
Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the Museum of Arts and
Science in GA, The Clay Studio in PA, Arrowmont School of Arts and
Crafts, Eutectic Gallery, Kolva-Sullivan Gallery, Lillstreet Art Center,
Signature Gallery, Belger Crane Yard Gallery, Leedy-Voulkos Art Center,
Duane Reed Gallery and the Holter Museum of Art.

http://ofa.fas.harvard.edu/event/visiting-artist-workshop-kyungmin-park