Korean artist Jongjin Park has been awarded the Loewe Foundation Craft Prize 2026 for his work Strata of Illusion. The piece, selected from 30 finalists by a jury of 12 experts in design, architecture, and museums, explores the tension between control and collapse through thousands of layers of paper coated with colored porcelain slip.
Controlled Firing: When Paper Disappears and Gravity Decides 🏺
The technical process is as simple as it is radical. Park stacks thousands of paper layers, coats them with pigmented porcelain slip, and subjects them to high temperature. During firing, the paper burns away completely, and the mass, losing its internal support, deforms under heat and gravity. The result is an organic structure where every fold and indentation responds to the physical laws of the moment. There is no manual modeling: the final piece is the record of its own controlled collapse.
The Art of Building Something That Collapses with Style 🎭
Seeing Strata of Illusion is like watching a house of cards in slow motion, but with porcelain and a prize at stake. Park makes destruction seem intentional and even elegant. While some artists sweat to keep their works from falling, he wins an international award by letting his fall apart. Of course, with thousands of layers, colors, and a kiln in between. Zen minimalism with an apocalyptic ending.