KyoungHwa Oh

KyoungHwa Oh was born in Seoul, Korea, where she spent her childhood and naturally developed a connection to traditional Korean ceramics (Koryo Celadon). Oh studied fashion design in Korea and worked as a designer for five years before coming to the United States to gain more design experience. While in the United States, she became interested in working with clay and changed her plans to study ceramics.

KyoungHwa Oh is an Associate Professor of Art at Colorado Mesa University. After earning her MFA, Oh served as a Visiting Resident Artist at Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls, Texas, from 2009 to 2011. She joined the Colorado Mesa University Department in 2011 and is a ceramics-based studio artist who teaches both ceramics and foundation courses in the Art and Design Department. Oh has been included in numerous juried and invitational exhibitions throughout the United States, China, Turkey, and Canada. The ICMEA (International Ceramic Magazine Educators Association) recognized her as an emerging artist in 2010. Oh also received the Ceramic Monthly Emerging Artist Award in 2012, was named one of three NC Pottery Conference Demonstrating Artists in 2022 and received the McKnight Artist Award in 2024 from the Northern Clay Center in Minneapolis, MN.

Oh’s life experiences and cultural background inspire her ceramic pieces. Her
work consists of functional and sculptural carved porcelain. First, her pieces are thrown on the wheel, and then altered by cutting, adding clay, and carving to create new forms. Through the carving process, Oh strives to depict positive and negative space, uniting the ideas of fullness and emptiness. Oh creates ceramic objects that reflect traditional Korean culture and Western contemporary style. Eastern and Western cultures are symbolically expressed through this language. Like Yin and Yang, Oh’s work encompasses the influence of traditional Asian values and modern Western society.