Jongjin Park wins the Loewe Craft Prize 2026
Jongjin Park won the Loewe Craft Award 2026 with Strata of Illusion, a ceramic work presented at the National Gallery of Singapore as part of this year’s finalist exhibition. Made of porcelain, paper, stain and glaze, the piece sits somewhere between a low chair, a geological specimen and a compressed textile field. Its rectangular body dips inwards at the centre, while bands of color gather on the surface in multi-layered ridges, pleats and compressed seams.
The winning project begins with paper. She bases the leaves on porcelain pieces painted with hand-mixed pigments, then folds, stacks and presses them into dense pieces before firing them. In the kiln, the paper disappears while the porcelain hardens, leaving behind the memory of its former structure. The final object retains the traces of compression and folding, transforming a fragile material process into solid ceramic form.
Strata of Illusion, Jongjin Park. Image courtesy of the Loewe Foundation
porcelain that holds the paper trail
His power Jongjin Park‘s Strata of Illusion lies in how clearly his creation remains visible. Up close, the surface reads as a sequence of compressed layers, with ridged edges and sunken passageways reminiscent of sediment, fabric, cardboard and cut sections of earth. Pale blue, coral red, yellowish yellow, moss green, and glossy dark passages gather in uneven bands, giving the work a dense, almost coated presence without losing the blunt weight of the baked clay.
Park’s process is based on observations of geological strata near his studio. Instead of representing the landscape through image, he studies the slow action of accumulation, pressure and time and then translates these forces into a ceramic process. The work carries this logic essentially. Each aspect has a natural decision. Each colored layer marks a stage of coating, stacking and baking. What looks soft and fibrous is actually vitrified porcelain.
Strata of Illusion (detail), Jongjin Park. Image courtesy of the Loewe Foundation
a craft object shaped by extinction
The title, Strata of Illusion, indicates the central tension of the track. Its surface appears flexible, papery and almost cloth-like, yet the work is fixed in ceramic permanence. The seat-like cavity encourages a corporeal reading, but the object remains sculptural, closer to a solid ground than a functional chair. This ambiguity gives the work its charge. Park uses craft to hold two conditions simultaneously: the softness of the original material and the hardened state of the final form.
This sense of transformation seems especially important in the context of the Loewe Craft Award, where contemporary art is often presented through patience, material intelligence and technical risk. Park’s work does not rely on ornament or scale to make its case. He stays close to the hand and the kiln, using a deceptively simple pairing of paper and porcelain to question how material truth is perceived.
Strata of Illusion, Jongjin Park. Image courtesy of the Loewe Foundation
Jongjin Park and the expanded scope of collectible design
Based in the Republic of Korea, Jongjin Park holds degrees from Kookmin University and Cardiff Metropolitan University, and is currently an Assistant Professor Major of Craft & Collectible Design at Seoul Women’s University. His practice moves between ceramics, craft research and collectible design, with recent collaborations spanning luxury, fashion and automotive environments. On Strata of Illusion, these fields converge through a work that feels experimental without becoming remote.
The piece also speaks to a wider shift in design culture, where the process has become as important as the final form. Park’s ceramic method records the work directly on the object, allowing the finished surface to bear elements of folding, pressure, pigment and heat. At a time when construction is increasingly shaped by speed and simulation, Strata of Illusion returns attention to the persistent intelligence of matter and the hand as a tool for testing what a material can become.
Jongjin Park. Image courtesy of the Loewe Foundation
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Strata of Illusion (detail), Jongjin Park. Image courtesy of the Loewe Foundation
Strata of Illusion, Jongjin Park. Image courtesy of the Loewe Foundation
project information:
name: Strata of Illusion
designer: Jongjin Park | @jongjinpark_ceramics
competition: Loewe Craft Award 2026 | @loewefoundation
