Inspired by the Buddhist Heart Sutra that “form is emptiness and emptiness is form”, this series of sculptures explores emptiness as a positive space. Challenging our understanding of positive and negative space, these sculptures assert emptiness to be the opposite of nothingness. The hollow tubes are not empty nothingness; they are full of potential, seeking transformation and reaching for hope. The empty vessel is not barren and hollow; it is replete with the potential for pulsing life and birth. These forms of emptiness open the possibility for completeness. Nothingness is everythingness.

Artist Bio

Alexandra Kim is a ceramicist from Newton, Massachusetts and is currently a senior at Harvard College with a concentration in Psychology and a secondary in Arts, Film, and Visual Studies. Working with clay since the age of eight, Kim now works with all types of clay bodies and utilizes a variety of techniques: wheel-throwing, hand-building, extruded forms, incision work, inlay, and more. Kim enjoys creating functional ceramics but has increasingly been focusing on creating sculptural pieces, often using them to create installations that explore themes of climate change, female labor, emotion and the inner life, her Korean heritage, and her Korean American identity.

Exhibition Dates & Visitor Information:

December 14 – 16, 2022: Gallery 224 will be open to visitors between 10am – 4pm. This exhibition will remain installed from December 17 - January 3, 2023 and passersby are invited to view this exhibition through the windows of Gallery 224.

Details: https://ofa.fas.harvard.edu/ceramics/Gallery_224