Miro Chun gives materials a seat at the table with her subtle, tactile ceramics.
Subtle, smooth, and enticing, Chun’s minimalist ceramics emphasize form and materials. Her functional, everyday wares—mugs, cups, bowls, plates, and pots, made from a variety of clay bodies and glazes—invite contemplation over a cup of tea or a meal. Chun, who lives in Phoenix, Arizona, and comes from a family of artists, trained and worked as an architect before turning her ceramics practice into a job, starting Miro Made This in 2014. Thanks to her precise architect’s eye, her neat tableware pieces nestle into each other and into cabinets. Still, even the best-laid plans have always betrayed ceramists. Chun turns her mistakes and seconds into “critical objects,” ceramics with visible imperfections that reflect the challenges of making by hand. Shivaun Watchorn wrote about her heavy white porcelain tea cups in “Tea Time” in the Winter 2024 issue of American Craft.
How do you describe your work or practice in 50 words or less?
I am a ceramist who divides my practice into two parts: the making of minimalist functional ware and of critical objects. The critical objects I make are based on observations of the process of making ceramics, the unseen moments of beauty within that process, and the conflict inherent in reaching for perfection when making objects by hand.
Stoneware and porcelain tableware by Miro Chun, 2022.
