Rising Talent Awards Jan. 2025: South Korea Energizes the International Scene

As tradition dictates, all winners of the 2025 Rising Talents Awards are under 35 and have launched their studios within the past five years. Their creative languages blend bold futurism, minimalist signatures, and a reimagining of sculptural craftsmanship.

Dahye Jeong

THE THIRD DIMENSION OF WEAVING
Dahye Jeong, 34, weaves horsehair over wooden molds inspired by ancient antiques and traditional Korean ceramics.

Maison&Objet: How did you come to weave in three dimensions?
Dahye Jeong: I discovered horsehair—a national intangible cultural heritage still practiced in my hometown of Jeju—while working on a project promoting local crafts. I was captivated because, though it’s a fiber art with simple techniques, it allows for creating an impressive range of three-dimensional forms.
M&O:  How do you select your shapes?
D.J.: I started with triangles, squares, and circles, seeing the sun pass through them. It felt as though my shapes created their own light. Then I was drawn to ancient pottery, which, though primitive and simple, conveys a sense of power. I aim to express the soft yet strong force inherent in horsehair.
M&O: Is time a raw material for you?
D.J: Yes, because I select each strand individually and weave it by hand… Some days, weaving just 2 cm feels insurmountable, but working on a project that demands such patience has given me comfort in times of uncertainty.

Kuo Duo

SPARK BETWEEN LIMITED EDITIONS AND INDUSTRIAL DESIGN
Hwachan Lee and Yoomin Maeng founded Kuo Duo in Seoul in 2021, experimenting with traditional woodworking methods and recycled plastics.

Maison&Objet:You explore the “limits of design.” What does that mean?
Kuo Duo: We've encountered diverse design philosophies and methodologies that have shaped our multifaceted understanding of design. Our creativity emerges when we question our preconceived ideas, seek new challenges for imaginative and expansive outcomes, and push the boundaries of design.
M&O: Marble shelves, plastic sofas, wooden vases… is the role of materials to surprise?
K.D.: It allows for a freer, more experimental expression of ideas. Our studio also designs spaces and provides strategic consulting. Working continuously on such limited editions sparks new ideas and encourages evolving projects where products can move from unique pieces to serial production.
M&O: How do you distinguish “spatial installations” from “three-dimensional design”?
K.D.: We describe ourselves as an industrial design studio for three-dimensional objects. We use “spatial installations” for space design and “three-dimensional design” for crafting 3D objects.

Minjae Kim

WOODED LUMINESCENCE
Korean artist Minjae Kim, 34, creates furniture in New York that serves as an antithesis to architectural practice (he holds a degree in architecture) in terms of time, scale, and accessibility.

Maison&Objet: Architecture led you to furniture design. What brought you to New York?
Minjae Kim: In architecture school in Seattle, a furniture workshop helped me design my first chair. I continued studying architecture at Columbia University in New York but kept my interest in design alive.
M&O: Why work with quilted fiberglass?
M.K.: I found traditional fiberglass molding and layering messy and frustrating. I thought of layering it through quilting and adding resin, enabling me to create large volumes without needing extensive space or woodworking tools.
M&O: Is it the irrational side of your creations that evokes emotion?
M.K.: It’s probably because I focus on the undefined. For a wooden chair, for instance, a carpenter delivers the raw piece, and I carve away to uncover lines and volumes I couldn’t define in a preliminary drawing. I enjoy subtracting material, which is the opposite of what I learned in architecture.

niceworkshop

METALLIC PRIMITIVISM
Based in Seoul, this studio explores the physical properties of industrial materials. Huyunseog Oh, 30, and Sangmyeong Yoo, 27, are creating a new design language, one that bridges construction sites and art galleries.

Maison&Objet: How did the idea of using bolts as inspiration arise?
Huyunseog Oh: While working as a site supervisor, I saw fully-threaded bolts used in ceilings. That’s when I imagined turning them into furniture.
M&O: What are the strengths and challenges of pushing metal exploration?
H.O.: I focus on stainless steel and aluminum. My most distinctive experience in surface treatment was hand-carving wood-like textures onto metal, bridging nature with metal.
M&O: Does your design inject a touch of madness into industrial aesthetics?
H.O.: It wasn’t so much the aesthetics, but the potential for reusing construction materials that interested us. Our approach is inherently tied to sustainability. These temporary, discarded materials are transformed into contemporary design pieces.

Sisan Lee

ANTINOMIC SEDUCTION
Seoul-based designer Sisan Lee, 29, creates sculptural furniture and lighting pieces that could belong in a museum. Combining raw stones with industrial steel plates, he seeks balance between nature and artifact.

Maison&Objet: Why let natural stones determine your forms ?
Sisan Lee: I was drawn to the unique character of the stones I collected, contrasting with industrial standards. I found processed stones less beautiful than natural ones, so I let their natural properties dictate the form and size of my pieces.
M&O: Naturecity, primitivemodern, naturalartificial—do antonyms inspire you?
S.L.: I’m interested in moments when contradictory concepts collide. What drives me is finding a contact point between extremes, searching for where confrontation becomes harmony, creating balance because there are complementary elements in opposites.
M&O: How does the dialogue between stonemetal, leatherwood support your ideas?
S.L.: I enjoy the conversation between conflicting materials. They each have unique properties, but together they create new meanings. The weight of stone, the flexibility of leather, the warmth of wood, and the coolness of metal complement each other to add complexity to the work.

WooJay Lee

THE VALUE OF THE INVISIBLE
WooJay Lee draws inspiration from overlooked details of everyday life to craft solid benches, pedestals, bricks, and partitions. A Korean-New Zealander, he graduated from universities in the Netherlands and Australia.

Maison&Objet Why old paper as a material :?
WooJay Lee: Old newspapers or flyers are so ingrained in our daily lives that they’ve become invisible, tossed away without thought. One day, I felt a sense of pity for them and set out to give them new life—stronger, more beautiful, more valuable.
M&O: Is this a love letter to imperfections?
W.J.L.:  It’s more about overlooked aspects of daily life, unnoticed details. Gallery white walls, forgotten corners, cracks in bricks… elements that form the backdrop of our lives, yet remain unspoken. They evoke life’s unpredictability, where imperfections hold meaning and value.
M&O: Your work is exhibited in art galleries—is it still design?
W.J.L. :I often face this question art, design, or craft Why create these divisions To fit historical narratives or just to set a price The venue or market for a piece shouldn’t matter.

In Yeonghye

Talent Craft
THE SOFT EXPLOSION
In Yeonghye discovered a passion for handcrafting in her parents’ furniture shop. Since then, she has worked with textiles in an expressive way, creating stitched designs, furniture, and art objects.

Maison&Objet A father who sells furniture, a mother with a degree in textile design—does your work collide between these worlds ?
In Yeonghye: My mother crafted everyday clothes and traditional garments like the “hanbok,” and my father instilled a love for creation. This blend of influences shapes my work, where I use fabric as the primary material.
M&O: What techniques do you use?
I.Y.: For textile designs, I start with sketchbook drawings, making hand-pulled thread sketches that I finish with a sew;ing machine. For furniture or objects, it’s the reverse I use the machine to create base elements, which I then join and shape with hand-stitching.
M&O: Your work is deeply immersive. Why?
I.Y.:  Introverted and unable to express my emotions easily, I use my pieces as a form of communication. These soft textures are a way to tell my story, however small. When my story takes the shape of a chair, that simple object becomes transcendent through liberated expression.