White Porcelain Opposites ¨ÏSuzy Lee 2023 Publication Date 31st May 2023 Hintoki Press/ Vacances/ designsen Drawn from the collection of the National Museum of Korea, White Porcelain Opposites pairs hand-drawn Joseon white porcelains into a playful visual dictionary of opposites. Jars, bowls, bottles, and vessels become characters that express ideas such as heaviness and lightness, success and failure, peace and war, and dream and reality. Combining Korean cultural heritage with humor and visual imagination, the book invites readers of all ages to see white porcelain not as museum artifact, but as lively forms filled with emotion, meaning, and personality. *********************************************** A Set of Events Forming a Relationship by Suzy Lee "Vacances" is a collective of Korean picture book artists who occasionally work together on playful, curious projects. One day, we decided to visit the National Museum of Korea as a group. The plan? Each of us would pick an artifact that caught our eye—and later, turn it into a book. No pre-planning, no second chances. Just instinct, inspiration, and maybe a little chaos. I walked into the museum thinking I might choose the Maitreya Bodhisattva in Meditation—a sculpture I¡¯ve long admired. But instead of communing with the divine, I found myself mostly watching the people who were doing the communing. Then I wandered on, empty-handed and slightly disoriented, hoping to stumble across something unexpected. Eventually, I arrived at the white porcelain gallery. I can¡¯t quite explain why, but it was the white porcelain—not the more glamorous Goryeo celadon—that caught my heart. There it was: a moon jar floating gently above its narrow foot. So modest, so luminous. White porcelain holds a quiet kind of charm—a calm humility, a kind detachment, the wisdom of taking a step back. And yet¡¦ the more I looked, the more personality I saw. One jar puffed itself up like it had taken a deep breath. Another sagged as if sighing. Some were humble, others ambitious, some playful, some overly solemn. They didn¡¯t just sit there—they performed. They had quirks, moods, maybe even egos. Suddenly, I thought: inhale and exhale. Opposites! What if I made an antonym dictionary out of white porcelain? And just like that, the title appeared: The White Porcelain Opposites. Back home, I typed ¡°white porcelain¡± into the museum¡¯s online collection. 21,340 results. I started by listing the pieces I liked and searching for suitable antonyms. That didn¡¯t get me very far. So I flipped it—listed antonyms first, then searched for porcelain to match. It was thrilling. But when it came time to actually draw, I realized: giving personality to eyeless, mouthless objects is no easy task. Of course it¡¯s hard—I should¡¯ve known! Even the illustrations gave me trouble. Since this was meant to be a dictionary, I abandoned ¡°artful¡± and aimed for clarity instead. As I flipped through the pages I¡¯d made, I found myself thinking more deeply about the nature of opposites. According to the Standard Korean Language Dictionary: ¡°Antonyms are words with meanings that stand in direct opposition to each other. For two words to be antonyms, they must share at least one common semantic element while differing in another.¡± That¡¯s the fascinating part: to be true opposites, two things must belong to the same category. You can¡¯t be someone¡¯s opposite if you¡¯re all alone. I am your opposite because you and I are a pair. We define each other. We need each other. We are, quite literally, a set of events forming a relationship. Me, at one end You, at the other But— Only by being in the same space Can our differences emerge. All things arise together. You exist because I do. I exist because you do. Even white porcelain— Of all things, white porcelain! Still glows quietly In the dark. When I¡¯m deep in a project, I often find myself thinking of Taoism. I don¡¯t believe the world is made of solid essences, but of shimmering relationships. In Taoist thought, opposites live together: light and shadow, full and empty, form and formlessness. A bowl is useful not because of its clay walls, but because of the emptiness inside. That emptiness allows for something else to be filled. And so, being and non-being make a pair. Their contrast holds the meaning. The white porcelain pieces in the museum¡¯s glass cases are solitary objects. But when I look at them, I see connections. I start to name relationships. That¡¯s the game. That¡¯s what I do. I play. And through play, I build meaning. ¹Ý´ë¸» ¹éÀÚ À̼öÁö 128 x 182mm | ¿É¼ÂÀμâ | ³ëÃâ½ÇÁ¦º» 112p | 23,000¿ø ÀÌ ³¡ÀÇ ³ª, Àú ³¡ÀÇ ³Ê ±×·¯³ª ÀÌ¹Ì °°Àº °÷¿¡ ÀÖ¾î¾ß ºñ·Î¼Ò ´Ù¸¥ °ÍÀÌ µå·¯³ªÁö ±×·¯¹Ç·Î ³Ê¿Í ³ª´Â °ü°è¸¦ ÀÌ·ç´Â ÇÑ ¹úÀÇ »ç°Ç, ÇÏÇÊÀÌ¸é ¹éÀÚ¶ó´Ï ÇϹ°¸ç ¹éÀÚÁ¶Â÷, ¿À´Ãµµ ºû³ª³× ¾îµÒ¼Ó¿¡