By Kezia Royer-Burkett, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Most people have heard of K-pop, the vibrant and global phenomenon of Korean popular music — but what about K-traditional art? Here in Burlington, a married artist couple from Korea is quietly preserving and sharing centuries-old Korean ceramic traditions in the heart of our community. For the past twenty years, Jung Do Lee and Jin Hee Jun have called Burlington home, creating intricate, thoughtful ceramic art rooted in Korean heritage with a modern touch.
Jung Do Lee is a master of buncheong, a traditional Korean pottery technique that dates back to the Goryeo Dynasty of the 13th century. The method involves applying white slip to dark clay, then stamping and carving delicate designs into the surface. Lee has spent more than four decades refining his craft and breathing new life into this ancient form.
“I’ve been making buncheong art since 1978. Rather than trying to engender beauty artificially, I inspire sympathy through the simple and rustic beauty of my pottery blended with modern technique.”
Lee’s work is visually stimulating: bowls, jars, and platters coated in white slip and adorned with stylized birds, fish, and florals. The patterns are purposeful but never overpower the form of the vessel. “I decorate my work with great seriousness,” he says. “In a tremendously small part of my work, I tend to carefully bring about a minor change to lend vitality to the piece. I hope viewers can feel the beauty, the unique function, and the potter’s effort learned from heritage.”
His art has travelled far beyond his studio, with some pieces on view at the Royal Ontario Museum and the Art Gallery of Burlington. His work has been featured in exhibitions and collections in Canada, various European countries, the U.S., Japan, and Korea. Yet his purpose remains grounded in the local. “We’ve loved living in Burlington — our second hometown. Our Korean background residents are still minorities here, and we’d like to share our cultural heritage with Burlingtonians. I hope that beyond K-pop, people can discover and appreciate K-Traditional arts as well.”
While Lee’s work leans into minimalist strength and historical elegance, his wife, Jin Hee Jun, uses clay as a deeply personal medium for emotional exploration. A ceramic artist and former professor, Jun’s work features hand-built murals, sculptural pillars, and expressive reliefs that reflect her internal world and lived experiences.
“Working with clay always calms me,” she says. “It helps me focus and communicate. I’ve worked to express my emotions and daily circumstances in clay, like writing a journal.” Her pieces, whether large-scale installations or intimate figurative forms, often resemble creatures or faces, avatars of memory and emotion.
One of her most striking works, The Forest, is a four-panel relief inspired by the view from her former studio in Korea.
“I like the colour and texture of the clay to be obvious,” Jun notes. “I use ceramic pigment like watercolour in several layers, so as not to ruin the relief detail, then I spray a clear glaze very thinly.”
As long-standing members of the Burlington Potters’ Guild, housed at the Art Gallery of Burlington, both Lee and Jun are vital contributors to the local arts scene. Their work is also featured in the two annual Arts Burlington sales — a holiday and spring tradition where the public can explore and purchase pieces directly from local artists. The Potters’ Guild, which welcomes all levels of experience, has become a nurturing space for these two Korean artists to not only create but also to connect and inspire others through their heritage.
The presence of K-traditional art in Burlington is a quiet but powerful reminder of the city’s growing cultural mosaic. In their own ways, both Lee and Jun infuse the ancient with the present, inviting us to slow down, observe, and connect with art, with history, and with each other.
