About NIKORU Art | 似子留

"In the past eight years, I have been experimenting with carving clay to create raised relief images, using 3D printers and organic materials with liquid porcelain. I am now incorporating the use of other materials - enamels, plastics, wood, metal - with my ceramic pieces to create static and dynamic sculptures. I also take photos and create short films. My pieces explore identity, impermanence, longing and grief, our relationship with Nature, non-duality and cosmic insignificance. Recently my thoughts have been on time, space, and the intersection of science, spirituality and religion. My focus on all aforementioned topics examine and reflect my thoughts and feelings of who I AM existing in societies, cultures, who we are as a species on this planet, what significance we have in this universe, as a Korean Adoptee raised by a White single mother in a conservative patriarchal family structure growing up with four boys as my childhood peers in small town U.S.A. Why do I feel closest to my true self, an indestructible conscious entity, when walking alone on an isolated mountain top in a remote location with everything I need to survive being carried on my back?"

Nikoru (似子留) was born Hong Soo Min in Seoul, South Korea in 1977. She was adopted and renamed 'Nichole Hastings' in 1979 and grew up in rural New Hampshire , USA. Nikoru lives and works between Madrid, Spain, Vermont and New York City in the United States.

似子留 is a student of classical ceramics. She works with all kinds of clays, on the pottery wheel and sculpting by hand, to create both functional and purely decorative vessels. She also works in other mediums - photography, making short films and mixed medium sculptures, inviting the mind to play. When 似子留 is not working in her studio, exploring different cities, or driving to various destinations, she can be found walking in remote locations and hiking to isolated mountain tops.

Education

2005 - Glazes, Keene State College (Continuing Education) New Hampshire, USA

2004 - Dining Sets, Keene State College (Continuing Education) New Hampshire, USA

2004 - Japanese Aesthetics, Sainen Toki (Teaching Assistant) Osaka, Japan

1999 - B.F.A. Ceramics, Keene State College (Studio Asistant) New Hampshire, USA

2017 - Taller de libre creación, La Escuela de Cerámica de la Moncloa, Madrid, Spain

2021 - Taller de cerámica, Observatorio de lo Invisible, Guadalupe, Spain

2021 - “Heartwork”, Edgard Neville 21B, Madrid, Spain

Individual Exhibitions

2021 - “Pleno Verano”, Yebenes 67, Madrid, Spain

2016 - “Sol, Luna, Tierra”, Ohanami Flores y Belleza, Madrid, Spain

Group Exhibitions

2023 - “OPEN”, Espai Cenit, Barcelona, Spain

2021 - “3rd Annual Owl Artists Fly Home”, Thorne-Sagendorph Art Gallery, USA

2016 - “EDICIÓN LIMITADA”, La Galería Factoría, Madrid, Spain

2017 - “Porcelana y Cerámica Actual en Madrid”, En Loop, Madrid, Spain

2021 - “Ohanami”, Ohanami Flores y Belleza, Madrid, Spain