Ceramicist & Alum Sam Kim Creates One-of-a-Kind Awards for MassArt’s 2024 Common Good Award Honorees

At the MassArt Common Good Awards, community members gather to celebrate individuals fostering positive change through creativity, leadership, and service.

Reflecting the event’s emphasis on individuality and artistic expression, honorees each year receive a custom-made award created by an artist or designer from the MassArt community. In 2024, honorees received custom ceramic pieces by Sam Kim, a 2018 graduate of MassArt’s Industrial Design and Ceramics programs.

Kim discovered his passion for ceramics while studying Industrial Design at MassArt, where he was drawn to clay’s malleable and moldable nature. His work seamlessly blends the precision of industrial design with the expressive possibilities of clay, resulting in pieces that are both functional and visually dynamic.

Slipcasting, a process involving liquid clay poured into molds, serves as the foundation of Kim’s practice. He challenges its conventional use by carefully layering and stacking molds to ensure each piece is unique. His aesthetic is defined by what he terms “offsets”—intentional slants and geometric contours that combine curves with sharp cuts. These features add movement and tension to his work, transforming a traditionally uniform process into a method for creating truly personal and distinctive objects.

In addition to his artistic practice, Kim co-founded Slow Hands Studio in Lowell with his studio partner, Leena Cho. Together, they have built a creative space dedicated to producing thoughtfully designed ceramics and exploring new possibilities in the medium. Outside the studio, Kim draws inspiration from his everyday rituals, whether brewing the perfect cup of coffee, cycling through the city, exploring new technologies, or playing video games.

Kim’s work has been featured in exhibitions such as Lines of Korea, Cultural Context, and the State of Clay Biennial. His custom-designed pieces for the MassArt Common Good Awards reflect his dedication to craftsmanship and his vision for pushing the boundaries of ceramic design.