Between the Scenery Before One's Eyes and the Fingertips… Perigee Gallery Holds Seo Hae-yeong Solo Exhibition 《Pure Sculpture》

Even when attempting to transplant an object before one's eyes exactly as it is, the gaze of the observer and the movement of the hands intervene in sculpture. Questions regarding what to look at, how much to create, and how close the object and the sculptor can become during that process lead to a single exhibition.

Perigee Gallery will hold Seo Hae-yeong's solo exhibition 《Pure Sculpture》 starting on the 7th. In this exhibition, artist Seo Hae-yeong focuses once again on the most basic process of sculpture, using mountains, seas, and fog as subjects to observe objects and create forms with their hands.

Artist Seo Hae-yeong has previously used the medium of sculpture itself as the theme of their work. In this exhibition, sculptures of mountains and seas, which were molded from clay while looking at actual landscapes and then cast, are arranged as if facing each other. Rather than completing works by imagining unseen parts or dramatically transforming forms, the artist remains within the scope of what they can observe. The repetitive act of adding and removing clay itself becomes an important process that constitutes the work.

The 'fog' situated between the mountains and the sea more directly demonstrates the distance between the object, the person observing it, and the sculpture. The sculptor begins work while looking at the landscape, but at some point, the gaze shifts from the scenery before their eyes to the sculpture being made by their hands. The sculpture, intended to approach the object closely, instead ends up placed between the object and the artist. The artist views this gap not as a limitation to be eliminated, but as a condition through which sculpture is established.

Small bronze works scattered throughout the exhibition hall also form relationships with the mountains, seas, and fog. As the size and height of the works, their front and back positions, and the presence or absence of pedestals vary, different scenes are created depending on where the viewer stands. Rather than merely appreciating the completed sculptures one by one, viewers can follow the relationships between the works and newly connect the entire exhibition.

The exhibition title 'Pure Sculpture' also places weight on the act of observing and creating an object itself, rather than signifying a specific sculptural style. Instead of providing a single answer to what sculpture should be, artist Seo Hae-yeong asks again how sculpture arises between the landscape and themselves.

The exhibition is open until November 21. Perigee Gallery is open from Monday to Saturday, 10:30 AM to 6:00 PM, and is closed on Sundays and public holidays.