Long Beach Museum of Art

Two contemporary women artists who use traditional ceramic forms and decorative motifs to tell personal and culturally resonant stories.

Holding Time is an exhibition highlighting the work of Elyse Pignolet and MyungJin Kim, two contemporary Southern California women artists who use ceramics—particularly vessels—as a medium for storytelling. While their visual styles and narratives differ greatly, this exhibition brings their work together to explore how both artists have broken from the conceptual traditions of ceramics introduced by Southern California ceramicists of the early 1960’s. They instead embrace historically rooted forms—vases, pots, tiles, and mirrors—to communicate personal and culturally resonant narratives.

Despite their differences, Pignolet and Kim share a common language: the use of botanicals and decorative motifs on the surfaces of their vessels. These aesthetic elements become tools for layered, symbolic storytelling centered around themes such as femininity, social justice, cultural stereotypes, mythology, deities, and folk-art traditions.

Exhibition photos by Jeff McLane.

Elyse Pignolet lives and works in Long Beach, with a studio at Angels Gate Cultural Center in San Pedro. Of Filipino heritage, she grew up in Oakland, CA, and studied Fine Arts at San Francisco State University before completing her BFA in ceramics at Cal State Long Beach in 2007. Her education included time studying art and Spanish in Barcelona and Madrid, a ceramics tour in Mainland China, participation in the International Ceramics Biennale in Korea, and a scholarship-supported study of traditional tile murals in Lisbon, Portugal.

Pignolet’s ceramic work often addresses political and social issues, particularly the tension between feminism and misogyny, and challenges cultural stereotypes. Her practice reflects the urban environment in which she lives, using the enduring nature of ceramics to speak to the volatility of contemporary life. Her body of work ranges from standalone sculptures to expansive public installations and murals.

MyungJin Kim was born in South Korea and received her MFA in ceramic art from Seoul National University in 2002. After relocating to Los Angeles, her work began to incur Eastern and Western influences, especially inspired by traditional Korean “Minhwa” folk paintings. Of particular interest are 19th-century “Hwajodo” paintings—symbolic depictions of birds and flowers representing prosperity, longevity, and happiness.

In her Paradise series, Kim’s vessels depict a primal botanical world inspired by ancient plants growing in her own garden. Recurring imagery includes paired birds and owls—symbols of wisdom and enduring relationships. Each vessel is handcrafted from terracotta, with images sculpted in low relief and finished with white slip painting. The surfaces are burnished using terra sigillata, a technique associated with pre-Columbian ceramics from the Americas. This recent shift in her materials and surface treatment was inspired by a trip to Mexico City, further enriching her connection to global ceramic traditions.

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