In a vastly digitised world, there still remain a select few who return to fundamental crafts of the past in carving out a living for themselves.
AT A CULTURAL moment when the world is moving at a breakneck pace fuelled by the monumental advancements in technology, the idea of making a living from an old world craft seems like a novelty. Here, we profile three individuals — a potter, plant enthusiast and jeweller — who literally, craft a living by hand.
QI POTTERY
“Pottery is very related to my life. If you leave the clay unattended, it is just a pile of mud but when you put good intention and effort into it and follow through with the process, it becomes a beautiful piece of art. Just like life,” says 39-year-old potter, Kim Whye Kee as he meticulously applies glaze on a ceramic piece for firing.
Observing Kim at work is a therapeutic experience that draws in the onlooker: His fingers, dotted with tattoos, knead the clay back and forth repeatedly, working out air bubbles before setting it on a potter’s wheel parked in the corner of his work room. As the steady hum of the mechanic potter’s wheel rings in the background, Kim’s hands and eye co-ordinate in a trained rhythm, smoothing out the block of clay as it rises to take form. Around the room, teaware in various stages of finish sit lined along the wall, awaiting completion.
These four walls are the birthplace of Kim’s inventory of handmade teaware for Qi Pottery, a retail business he conceived with his now-wife, three years ago. Kim’s journey into and with pottery, like the craft itself, has been one demanding of patience, perseverance and commitment. His initial introduction to pottery is a traverse back in time to more than a decade ago.
Life back then was an entirely different regime for Kim. Recalling a troubled youth and a subsequent crime-riddled progression into adulthood, he was sentenced to prison on three separate accounts, during the last of which, a five-year sentence, Kim first took up pottery.
This story is from the February 2019 edition of T Singapore: The New York Times Style Magazine.
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This story is from the February 2019 edition of T Singapore: The New York Times Style Magazine.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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