The Department of Metalwork & Jewelry at Kookmin University deals with a wide range of materials, from metal to new materials for creative works, and further provides professional education based on theories and techniques of metalwork as well as new technology-based training. The department has maintained its reputation as one of the most competitive educational institutions internationally through world-class faculty, a specialized studio environment, numerous scholarship programs, and an exchange student system with the world’s leading metalworking schools.
Educational Goals
Based on the theoretical understanding of the social and cultural values of crafts, the Department of Metalwork & Jewelry aims to cultivate creative talents in elegant and unique daily goods, ornaments, furniture, sculptures and crafts, and culture-related planning, delivering contemporary sentiment of crafts through the balanced design development process for creative and artistic craftwork and commercialization.
Curriculum
The curriculum of the Department of Metalwork and Jewelry is largely divided into five major areas. These five fields advance from the foundation to the applications throughout the school year and are linked organically with the process of creation. They include “Design Practice,” “Metal Crafts,” “Jewelry,” “Industrial Products,” and “Crafts and Arts Theory.”
Facilities
Our program has a practice studio where each individual student has his or her own workbench and a shared machine room, an application laboratory, a polishing room, and a smithing room. The machine room is equipped with a large-size shearing machine, lathe, milling machine, rolling mill, and lapidary equipment. The polishing room is equipped with various polishing and buffing machines and sandblasting machine. In addition, the application laboratory is equipped with an electroforming machine, anodizing machine, 3D printer, welding machine, micro welder, precision casting machine, and enameling kiln. The smithing room is well equipped with various stakes, anvils, and equipment for metal forming, which is the basis of metalwork, and they are well maintained at all times. All facilities and materials are managed by a dedicated technician and graduate teaching assistants.
Faculty
Young-il Jeon received a BFA from the department of applied art of Seoul National University and an MFA from Miami University in the US. He has had six solo exhibitions, including Places of Objects (2015), and numerous national and international group exhibitions, including the 2018 Munich Handwerksmesse, in which he received the Bayerischer Staatspreis. His works are in the permanent collections of the MMCA, Chiwoo Craft Museum, Korea, and the V&A, UK.
Yongin Chung received a BFA from Kookmin University and an MFA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the US. He has had many group exhibitions and invitational solo exhibitions at major galleries throughout the world. His works are permanently collected in the MMCA, Chiwoo Craft Museum, and art galleries. His recent major research areas are 3D CAD, digital processing in metal works, and effective industrial processing in metal products, as well as 3D printing applications. His research on 3D studies has been published as books.
Dongchun Lee received a BFA from Kookmin University and a diploma from the Pforzheim in Germany. Since then, he has been researching contemporary jewelry and experimenting with the expansion of the formative and conceptual realm of jewelry through organizing various exhibitions. He has had 12 solo exhibitions and numerous significant group exhibitions ever since he had a solo exhibition in Germany and Seoul in 2000, and his works are in the permanent collections of art museums and galleries.
Yeonmi Kang received her BFA and MFA from Seoul National University and a second MFA from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in the US. Along with six solo shows, she has participated in many invitational shows nationally and internationally. She received the first AJF Artist Award, and her works are collected by art museums including the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art, US. She has been researching the application of narratives concerning human conditions and related themes in contemporary art jewelry. Recently, she is also interested in research and development in the area of craft-based living design.
Jiyeon Hyun received a BFA and MFA from Seoul National University and a second MFA from the University of Central England, UK. Since 1997, she has been researching hollowware and jewelry with enameling and silversmithing techniques, and has shown her works in five solo exhibitions, various group exhibitions, and fairs. Since 2001, she has co-worked with the Korean cultural brand VIUM, the Leeum Museum, the National Museum of Korea, the Korea Cultural Heritage Foundation, and the Seoul Design Foundation, sharing interest in traditional Korean culture and cultural products development.
Sungyeoul Lee received his BFA from Kookmin University and MFA from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in the US. He served as an artist in residence at ACC, US, and taught silversmithing and jewelry in the US for several years. His works have been shown in numerous exhibitions throughout the world and have won many awards, including a grand prize at Cheongju International Craft Biennale and second place in the Saul Bell Design Award. His works are in the permanent collections of the Sparta Teapot Museum in North Carolina and the Cheongju Craft Biennale Association. He has also presented numerous workshops and lectures around the US and Canada, including VCU, BGSU, and NSCAD.
RECENT GRADUATES: If you recently received a degree–BA, BFA, MA, or MFA–from this university, everything you need to know to upload your graduate portfolio can be found at this link.
