BLOOMIMALS

Organizer

Presented by Galerie de l’Ancienne Poste

Venue

24 Rue Philippe Verger

89130, Toucy

France

In her new exhibition at Galerie de l’Ancienne Poste, the artist takes her imagination a step further, moving from the nostalgic sweetness of childhood to a more expansive dialogue with nature.

Inspired by Flower, a Korean poem by Kim Chun-Soo, Ahryun reimagines the flower as a symbol of longing and love. From this reflection emerged Bloomimals — a fusion of “bloom” and “animal” — celebrating nature’s boundless creativity, where petals turn into feathers and creatures blossom a new. These hybrid beings evoke regeneration and hope, reminding us of nature’s power to heal and inspire resilience.

Ceramics has always been her chosen language. Trained in Korea, she mastered the demanding discipline of white porcelain — the minimalist “moon jar” aesthetic that embodies serenity and balance. Yet, beneath that quiet surface, she longed for color and energy. Her move to London marked a turning point. At the Royal College of Art, surrounded by mentors with diverse perspectives, she discovered new freedoms: to question, to experiment, to combine craftsmanship with conceptual thinking.

Distance from home deepened her emotional vocabulary. Each sculpture became a portrait — a memory of someone dear, translated into form, color, and motion. Influenced by Surrealism, the playful dynamism of Joan Miró, and the radical spirit of the Memphis movement, her work celebrates curiosity and individuality.

In her process, drawing and writing intertwine. Each Bloomimal begins as both sketch and story: a reflection on personality, attitude, or emotion. Colors are mixed intuitively, much like cooking, until the right harmony emerges. Technically, her experimentation with glazes redefines their role — no longer mere protection, but an expressive surface alive with texture and rhythm.

Looking ahead, she envisions larger-scale works and sensory installations that invite direct engagement — pieces that can be touched, felt, and experienced. For her, ceramics is not confined to function or tradition. It is a living, evolving medium — one that blurs the boundaries between art, craft, and design, offering endless possibilities for imagination and connection.

Galerie de l’Ancienne Poste

A unique venue for contemporary ceramics since 1997

Located in Puisaye, a land of fire and creativity, the Galerie de l’Ancienne Poste was founded in 1997 by ceramic artists, collectors, and ceramic enthusiasts. In the heart of Toucy, opposite the Town Hall and housed in a beautiful 17th century mansion, it has established itself as the leading gallery in France and Europe for contemporary artistic ceramics.

Open year-round, the gallery offers a demanding program of solo exhibitions dedicated to renowned artists who have chosen clay as their medium of expression. From the outset, the founders aimed to provide, in a rural setting, an exhibition space on par with major urban galleries, both in terms of the quality of the works presented and the appeal of the location.
To date, the gallery has organized over 160 exhibitions and presented almost as many French and international ceramic artists in exclusive French showings.

Each year, the venue welcomes some 8,000 visitors from all over France and Europe. Featured in exhibition selections by art magazines and journals, as well as in the  Michelin Green Guide  and the Lonely Planet travel guide, the gallery actively contributes to the cultural tourism appeal of the region. The gallery also develops partnerships with museums and cultural institutions to allow a wider audience to discover contemporary ceramics. Collaborations with the Troyes Museum of Modern Art in 2013 and the Maison des Arts in Châtillon (Hauts-de-Seine) in 2019, as well as the exhibition “Carte blanche à la Galerie de l’Ancienne Poste” (Carte Blanche to the Galerie de l’Ancienne Poste) offered by the renowned La Piscine Museum in Roubaix in 2020, demonstrate the gallery’s recognition and a growing interest in this artistic medium.