Photo by Sylvain Deleu
Unu Sohn
Unu Sohn (b. 1994) is a London-based visual artist and writer working primarily in ceramic sculpture. Ranging from free-standing sculptures to wall-based ceramic paintings, her works are typically intimately scaled as they are made from pressing her fingertips, fists, and body into soft clay. This process provides a recognizable sense of scale and rhythm. Her style is skeletal or scaffold-like, sometimes featuring raw, unglazed clay acting as unprimed canvas. She explores tenderness and a sensuous insufficiency throughout her practice.
Unu has exhibited internationally including PAD Fair (London), Galerie Joseph (Paris), and David Salkin Creative (Chicago). Alongside her artistic practice, she writes and publishes with Ceramics Now. She is a recipient of Arts Council England DYCP funding (2024) and the Barbican Arts Group Trust award (2023). Sohn obtained her MA in Ceramics & Glass from the Royal College of Art in 2022, following a BA in Gender Studies from UCLA in 2016.
Contact
Education
Royal College of Art, MA Ceramics & Glass, 2020-2022
School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Post-Baccalaureate Ceramics, 2018-2019
University of California - Los Angeles, BA Gender Studies (honors), 2012-2016
Select Exhibitions
2025 Dry Cleaning, Max Radford Gallery, London, UK (Group)
2025 South Open 3, OHSH Projects, London, UK (Group)
2024 PAD Art + Design Fair, Bryan O’Sullivan Studio, London, UK (Group)
2024 Uncarved Block, Unbleached Silk, Meeting Point Projects curated by Matilda Liu, London, UK (Group)
2024 Dearly Impossible, Barbican Arts Group Trust, London, UK (Solo)
2023 Two for Joy, San Mei Gallery, London, UK (Group)
2023 11:11 (London Design Festival), Jan Hendzel Studio, Staffordshire St, London, UK (Group)
2023 Skulpturepark Amager 2023, Copenhagen, Denmark (Group)
2023 Night Boat, TRA Collective, Fitzrovia Gallery, London, UK (Group)
2023 Colour, Texture, Substance, No Name, Warbling Collective, Kingsgate Project Space, London, UK (Group)
2020 1000 Vases, Galerie Joseph, Paris, France (Group)
2019 Meeting, Gallery 1922, Chicago, IL, USA (Solo)
2019 Our Intimates, Leroy Neiman Center, Chicago, IL, USA (Group)
2018 Intermixed, David Salkin Creative, Chicago, IL, USA (Group)
2018 Planation, Iang Gallery, Seoul, South Korea (Group)
Awards and Grants
2025 a-n The Artists Information Company Bursary
2024 Arts Council England Develop Your Creative Practice Grant
2024 Charlotte Fraser Ceramics & Glass Prize Shortlist at Holt Festival
2023 Barbican Arts Group Trust Award
2019 School of the Art Institute of Chicago Grant
Residencies
2022 51Cth Residency, Roskilde, Denmark (Solo residency funded by Det Obelske Familiefond)
2020 Vermont Studio Center Residency, Johnson, VT, USA
2019 Woodstock Byrdcliffe Guild Residency, Woodstock, NY, USA
Publications
Tecbuchet - “Uncarved Block, Unbleached Silk: Meeting Point Project”
1883 Magazine - “Matilda Liu”
Wallpaper - “Emerging stars and established makers unite in show for London Design Festival”
Dezeen - “Emerging Talents Require Nurture”