Opening
Saturday, November 02
5 – 8PM

On View
November 02 – December 14 2024

Wednesday – Saturday
Noon – 5PM

Marta
3021 Rowena Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90039

Marta is delighted to announce and present Terra Firma, an exhibition of new and continually developing functional ceramic works by Los Angeles-based artist Henry Kim. Housed in the gallery’s Anteroom and conceptualized as a space in which to escape and reflect, this immersive presentation invites viewers to turn their focus inward, encouraging, with sensorial aids, a connection to one’s internal landscape—a plane of contemplation that begets fantasy and a meditative relationship to the self.

One of two architectural apertures into Kim’s constructed universe is mitigated by a heavy ceramic and obsidian bead curtain, a work that provides a natural separation from external presences while simultaneously prompting the visitor’s first visual-tactile engagement with the environment beyond. The large, handmade ceramic beads, strung together with smaller obsidian counterparts, denote two of the central elements of the works in this space: that of monggi—the artist’s portmanteau of ‘marbling’ and onggi, a traditional Korean ceramic process that involves both throwing and coil-building—and reflectivity. This focal combination is similarly expressed in two distinct mirror works; one within a carved, circular frame that undulates in perpetual ripple—a foil to the perceived stasis of meditation—and the other within the angular formation of three step-layers of so-called ‘toobiture’—a series of square stock tubes that are fabricated through the marbling of different porcelain bodies with pigment, which are then processed through an extruder and carefully peeled on each side to reveal the pattern beneath the surface. This highly labor-intensive practice is the basis of Kim’s floor works—bench, table, stool, pedestal—and embodies core tenets of the artist’s practice, including grounding and ritual, both of which extend through to the experience of the pieces themselves. A pair of ceramic pendants hang low in the room. When seated beneath them, visitors are bathed in the light emanating from the ceramic shade above. Through this interaction, the bell-shaped form confesses its occasionally gilded interior and reflects back a distorted view of the self, advocating for a deeper sense of interiority.

Together, the myriad properties of Kim’s work layer upon one another and transport each visitor to a realm in which they can freely examine, and transform, their own internal codes of logic in pursuance of new worlds—arenas that release us, if only momentarily, from those in which we presently exist.

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Hyunuko is the art and design endeavor of Los Angeles-based ceramicist Henry Kim. Before opening his own practice in 2021, Kim worked closely with renowned L.A. duo The Haas Brothers as the studio’s Head of Ceramics. Under the mentorship of Nikolai and Simon Haas, Henry developed intricate processes and material explorations, working on several well-known series of the twins’ wide-ranging oeuvre. Kim’s current output flirts variously with themes of nature, fantasy, escapism, science fiction, megaliths, and the martial arts. Terra Firma is Kim’s first presentation with Marta, and his second solo exhibition in Los Angeles.