Yonghak Jo. Jewellery Class, Burg Giebichenstein University of Arts and Design Halle. New Talents Award Nominee 2024
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NewTalentsByKlimt02
Published: 02.01.2025
- Author:
- Burg Giebichenstein University of Arts and Design Halle Jewellery Class
- Edited by:
- Klimt02
- Edited at:
- Barcelona
- Edited on:
- 2025
The 10th edition of the New Talent Award 2024 by Klimt02 aims to recognize the work of graduate students in our field by supporting their careers in the professional world. Nominated by our school members, one of the selected graduates will win the New Talents Award.
My jewellery connects the past and present, restoring lost memories and relationships. I aim for contemporary jewellery to hold both personal and collective memories, passing them to future generations with messages of hope and healing.
>> Check out all the 2024 New Talents Nominees
Name of graduation student: Yonghak Jo
Name of guiding teachers/lecturers: Prof. Yuka Oyama
Nominated by Jewellery Class, Burg Giebichenstein University of Arts and Design Halle
In his Master’s thesis project, Line of Life (2022 – 2024), Yonghak Jo explores how jewellery can be a monument attached to the human body, preserving, remembering and commemorating the collective memory of war, while also serving as a reminder of peace. For Yonghak, as a Korean artist, the Cold War has always been present in his everyday life and has shaped his identity. Just as Yonghak was starting his thesis, the current Russian-Ukrainian war broke out in 2022. This brought back fond personal memories of his family reunion in late 1980s, when relatives from Sakhalin Island, Russia, visited Yonghak's family in South Korea. The relatives had been dislocated to Sakhalin by the Japanese for forced labor during the Second World War. With the closure of boarders once again, history is repeating itself—family reunions seem far from possible.
Yonghak's interpretation of ‘jewellery as monument’ is consolidated by actively researching and re-enacting the traditional Korean metalworking ‘Zoum-Ipsa’ technique that was almost lost during the three wars: Pacific War, Korean War and Cold War. It is the very craft knowledge and cultural heritage of undivided Korea, preserved by craftsmen despite the political turmoil. ‘Zoum-Ipsa’ technique involves chiseling fine grooves into the surface of iron plates and inlaying hair-thin silver threads into intricate patterns.
Yonghak Jo’s Line of Life jewellery pieces employs the ‘Zoum Ipsa’ to depict ocean waves that symbolize both the longing for the distant family members and the yearning for peace. The artist expresses his urgent ambitions to use jewellery as a wearable actant—not only to help people connect with their memories of war, but also to foster the exhange of multifarious personal memories, making a broader and collective memory.
/ Prof. Yuka Oyama
The statement of the artist:
Throughout human history, monuments have reminded societies of their shared stories and heritage. The Counter-monument Movement, which emerged in Germany in the late 20th century, emphasizes flexibility and participation in memory culture through open spaces for continuous interpretation.
Jewellery, historically small and portable, serves as personal monuments to memories. In my diploma project, I explored contemporary jewellery as a medium for sharing collective memories. Afterward, I shifted focus to personal narratives, highlighting how diverse memories shape culture.
My work features the traditional Korean craft technique „Zoum-Ipsa,” nearly lost during the Pacific and Korean Wars. It also tells my family’s story of separation and eventual reunion
across three wars (Pacific War, Korean War, and Cold War). The motifs of the sea and ships symbolize separation and reunion in my work. The movement of lines represents the sea’s motion, human relationships, and the bond between humans and objects.
My jewellery connects the past and present, restoring lost memories and relationships. I aim for contemporary jewellery to hold both personal and collective memories, passing them to future generations with messages of hope and healing. Amid global conflicts, I believe remembering violence is a way to resist it, and I hope my work contributes to this effort.
Contact:
Mail: yonghakjo@proton.me
Instagram: @yonghak_jo
Name of guiding teachers/lecturers: Prof. Yuka Oyama
Nominated by Jewellery Class, Burg Giebichenstein University of Arts and Design Halle
In his Master’s thesis project, Line of Life (2022 – 2024), Yonghak Jo explores how jewellery can be a monument attached to the human body, preserving, remembering and commemorating the collective memory of war, while also serving as a reminder of peace. For Yonghak, as a Korean artist, the Cold War has always been present in his everyday life and has shaped his identity. Just as Yonghak was starting his thesis, the current Russian-Ukrainian war broke out in 2022. This brought back fond personal memories of his family reunion in late 1980s, when relatives from Sakhalin Island, Russia, visited Yonghak's family in South Korea. The relatives had been dislocated to Sakhalin by the Japanese for forced labor during the Second World War. With the closure of boarders once again, history is repeating itself—family reunions seem far from possible.
Yonghak's interpretation of ‘jewellery as monument’ is consolidated by actively researching and re-enacting the traditional Korean metalworking ‘Zoum-Ipsa’ technique that was almost lost during the three wars: Pacific War, Korean War and Cold War. It is the very craft knowledge and cultural heritage of undivided Korea, preserved by craftsmen despite the political turmoil. ‘Zoum-Ipsa’ technique involves chiseling fine grooves into the surface of iron plates and inlaying hair-thin silver threads into intricate patterns.
Yonghak Jo’s Line of Life jewellery pieces employs the ‘Zoum Ipsa’ to depict ocean waves that symbolize both the longing for the distant family members and the yearning for peace. The artist expresses his urgent ambitions to use jewellery as a wearable actant—not only to help people connect with their memories of war, but also to foster the exhange of multifarious personal memories, making a broader and collective memory.
/ Prof. Yuka Oyama
The statement of the artist:
Throughout human history, monuments have reminded societies of their shared stories and heritage. The Counter-monument Movement, which emerged in Germany in the late 20th century, emphasizes flexibility and participation in memory culture through open spaces for continuous interpretation.
Jewellery, historically small and portable, serves as personal monuments to memories. In my diploma project, I explored contemporary jewellery as a medium for sharing collective memories. Afterward, I shifted focus to personal narratives, highlighting how diverse memories shape culture.
My work features the traditional Korean craft technique „Zoum-Ipsa,” nearly lost during the Pacific and Korean Wars. It also tells my family’s story of separation and eventual reunion
across three wars (Pacific War, Korean War, and Cold War). The motifs of the sea and ships symbolize separation and reunion in my work. The movement of lines represents the sea’s motion, human relationships, and the bond between humans and objects.
My jewellery connects the past and present, restoring lost memories and relationships. I aim for contemporary jewellery to hold both personal and collective memories, passing them to future generations with messages of hope and healing. Amid global conflicts, I believe remembering violence is a way to resist it, and I hope my work contributes to this effort.
Contact:
Mail: yonghakjo@proton.me
Instagram: @yonghak_jo
Necklace: Ship II, 2024
Steel, silver, cotton, graphite powder, oil. Fine silver wire inlaid on steelplate
32 x 8 x 4.5 cm
Photo by: Yonghak Jo
From series: The Line of Life
© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.
Estimated price: 850 €
Brooch: Wave I, 2024
Steel, silver, stainless steel. Fine silver wire inlaid on steelplate
10 x 3.5 x 1 cm
Photo by: Yonghak Jo
From series: The Line of Life
© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.
Estimated price: 500 €
Brooch: Wave II, 2024
Steel, silver, stainless steel, spray coated. Fine silver wire inlay on steelplate
7.3 x 8 x 0.7 cm
Photo by: Yonghak Jo
From series: The Line of Life
© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.
Estimated price: 650 €
Necklace: Wave III, 2023
Steel, silver, wood. Fine silver wire inlaid on steelplate
40 x 20 x 1 cm
Photo by: Yonghak Jo
From series: The Line of Life
Model: Ji-Hyun Lee
© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.
Estimated price: 2500 €
Necklace: Reflection II, 2024
Steel, silver, cotton. Fine silver wire inlaid on steelplate
14.5 x 1.1 x 0.15 cm
Photo by: Yonghak Jo
From series: The Line of Life
© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.
Estimated price: 1200 €
Brooch: Border III, 2022
Steel, silver, stainless steel. Fine silver wire inlaid on steelplate
ø11.2 x 0.4 cm
Photo by: Yonghak Jo
From series: The Line of Life
© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.
Estimated price: 1200 €
Yonghak Jo. Line of Life, 2024
Installation image, 80 x 180 x 12 cm
Water (black dyed), wood, PVC Film, fans, jewellery works on wood plates.
Photo by: Yonghak Jo
Installation image, 80 x 180 x 12 cm
Water (black dyed), wood, PVC Film, fans, jewellery works on wood plates.
Photo by: Yonghak Jo
© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.
- Author:
- Burg Giebichenstein University of Arts and Design Halle Jewellery Class
- Edited by:
- Klimt02
- Edited at:
- Barcelona
- Edited on:
- 2025
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