shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileNorth Korea

on the Taedong River, in northwestern Korea

Pyongyang

— — a capital built for the picture.

— Where it lives

Not only on a wall.

A small tile on the nightstand catching the morning. A larger one above the fire. Yours, wherever you spend the slow hours.

— On the nightstand, a 6-inch on a walnut stand

— Among the books, a 6-inch leaning into the spines

— Down a quiet hall, an 18-inch floating off the wall

— Above the fire, the 24-inch in a walnut surround

— a note from the studio

“Pyongyang sits on a bend of the Taedong River in the country's western lowlands. Wide ceremonial avenues, pastel apartment blocks, monuments arranged on axis. The Juche Tower rises from the east bank; the Ryugyong Hotel cuts a pyramid against the sky. The city was rebuilt from the war and laid out for ceremony rather than commerce. — from the studio

from the studio

— bring it home

Pyongyang, on ceramic.

Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.

What kind of piece?

One tile — square or rectangle.

How big?

the popular one — counter, shelf, nightstand

6 × 6 in · 15 cm · 1.6 lb

Surface finish

A clear glossy finish — the artwork reads as if under resin. Ideal for show-pieces and framed wall art.

How it sits

A hidden cleat — sits ¼″ proud of the wall.

$58

Hand-finished and shipped from our studio at the foot of the Smokies. On your wall in about ten days.

— size

6 × 6 in

15 cm

— weighs

1.6 lb

solid in the hand

— surface

ceramic, hand-finished

art rests beneath a thin glossy finish

— from

Knoxville, TN

our family studio, at the foot of the Smokies

— start a Coaster Set

Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.

— about Pyongyang

The place, in three passes.

A little of what's known, in case you fall down the rabbit hole — or want to go see it yourself.

— the place

Capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, with a population estimated around three million, on the Taedong River roughly 70 miles inland from the West Sea. The modern city was rebuilt almost entirely after the Korean War, when bombing levelled most of the urban fabric between 1950 and 1953. Major axes converge on Kim Il Sung Square; the 170-metre Juche Tower stands across the river. Pyongyang serves as the country's political, cultural, and ceremonial centre, designed at a monumental scale rare among Asian capitals.

— informed by Wikipedia, Britannica

— the stone

The city's monumental architecture is its most legible signature. The unfinished 105-storey Ryugyong Hotel, begun in 1987, rises 330 metres in a triangular pyramid above the skyline. The Arch of Triumph, completed in 1982, stands 60 metres tall, taller than its Paris counterpart. The Grand People's Study House holds thirty million volumes behind a traditional Korean roofline. Apartment towers along Mirae Scientists Street wear soft pastels: mint, peach, butter yellow. The visual register reads as ceremonial city more than working metropolis.

— informed by Britannica

— the silence

Few private cars move through the wide boulevards; most traffic is bicycles, trolleybuses, and the marching feet of the morning and evening commutes. The Pyongyang Metro runs at depths reaching 110 metres, among the deepest subway systems in the world, designed to double as a civil-defence shelter. Streetlights stay dim. Foreign visitors are guided, and most of the city remains beyond their itineraries. The quiet is a built quiet, the city as composition rather than crowd or commerce.

— informed by BBC

— where

North Korea · Pyongyang

— elevation

27 m · 89 ft

— position

39.0392° N · 125.7625° E

— the neighborhood

What's nearby.

A handful of named places within an hour's walk or short drive. Some we've already painted; some we will.

1 km W

Kim Il Sung Square

ceremonial square

1 km E

Juche Tower

monument

3 km NW

Ryugyong Hotel

hotel

2 km N

Mansu Hill Grand Monument

monument

at the lake

Taedong River

river

Pyongyang

Kim Il Sung Square

Juche Tower

Ryugyong Hotel

Mansu Hill Grand Monument

Taedong River

— common questions

What people ask.

A few questions we get about Pyongyang — and about bringing the piece home.

— about the place

The Taedong, which flows roughly 270 miles from the Rangrim Mountains through Pyongyang to the West Sea. The city sits on a wide bend, with monuments arranged on both banks for ceremonial sightlines.

The Ryugyong stands 330 metres and 105 storeys, among the tallest unoccupied buildings on earth. Construction began in 1987 and has stalled and resumed multiple times since.

Tourism is tightly controlled and arranged through state-approved tour operators, who guide visitors at all times. Independent travel is not permitted, and access has paused entirely at points since 2020.

A 170-metre granite tower on the east bank of the Taedong, completed in 1982 for Kim Il Sung's seventieth birthday. It faces Kim Il Sung Square across the river.

Some stations reach 110 metres below the surface, among the deepest in the world. The depth doubles the system as a civil-defence shelter, with blast doors at the station entrances.

— about the piece in your home

The piece reads as a study of the city's monumental skyline rather than a political statement. For diaspora customers with North Korean family history, a Small or Medium with a handwritten note can carry quiet recognition.

The pastel apartment palette and stone monuments read well against minimalist Asian, mid-century modern, and quiet maximalist rooms. The piece pairs with warm wood, ceramic, and brushed brass.

Yes. Minimalist Asian rooms lean on restrained palettes and architectural lines; the Pyongyang silhouette adds an unusual focal point without the Seoul or Tokyo references that have saturated the category.

A single Large or a four-tile Mural sits well above a standard sofa. Above a console table, a Medium or a landscape Triptych. A nine-tile Mural fills a feature wall.

Yes, in Dura Satin or Matte finish. Both handle steam and resist scratches. The Glossy finish belongs on dry feature walls and framed wall art.

A soft microfibre cloth, dry or lightly damp with plain water. No solvents, no abrasives. The colour lives in the ceramic surface, beneath a thin protective finish.

Yes. Every piece is the work of Reid Wender, the curator. No licensing, no third-party stock. One studio, one eye, one slowly assembled atlas of places.

— if this one stayed with you

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