Gyeonggi Ceramics Biennale: Earth Makes

Yasmin Smith is one of three Australian artists – along with the Hermannsburg Potters and Renée So – exhibiting in the 2026 Gyeonggi Ceramics Biennale curated by Daehyung Lee with Focus Australia Commissioner Natalie King.

"What is generated when human intention meets the autonomy of matter, and when the agency of the hand encounters planetary time

Earth Makes approaches ceramics as a living medium through which the forces of the Earth become visible over time. Clay is not a passive material that simply receives form; it is an active collaborator, working with artists through heat and gravity, moisture and pressure, chemical reaction, and unpredictable transformation. Rather than asking only “Who made it?”, the exhibition considers what emerges when human making enters into dialogue with the self-forming energies of matter.

The exhibition is organised into three chapters: Chapter 1 Made from Earth, Chapter 2 Made by Earth, and Chapter 3 Made in Earth. The first chapter follows the generative process through which clay, water, and fire come together, highlighting the responsiveness of the material and the possibilities of chance. The second chapter examines how soil, climate, and the properties of water have shaped local ways of life, cultural practices, and aesthetic sensibilities. The third chapter expands ceramics into a planetary medium through which artists explore the climate crisis, technological civilization, and posthuman imagination."