Celadon Double-Walled Openwork Vessel: Ten Symbols of Longevity Motif, 2022
This vase is not merely adorned with auspicious imagery; it constructs an entire cosmology of longevity through structure, symbolism, and restraint. “Here, longevity is not a motif placed upon the surface—it is a world made permeable through light, air, and time.” Created in 2022 by Young-soo Kim , an Icheon master ceramic artisan, this work is a commanding example of the double-walled openwork technique , one of the most technically exacting practices in contemporary Korean celadon. The process begins with the making of two separate vessels: an inner jar that secures the structure, and a finely worked outer shell that is cut open along a seam, fitted around the inner body, then rejoined before being pierced and carved. The complexity of this method lies not only in the difficulty of construction, but in the fact that every incision removes support. Precision, therefore, is inseparable from risk. Kim’s mastery is especially evident in the vase’s nearly spherical form, whose calm fullness becomes the ground for an extraordinarily intricate openwork field. The outer skin does not function merely as ornament. It acts as a permeable membrane through which the inner vessel is only parti
