WHAT I HAVE SEEN
CITY LANDSCAPE
CHUNKY TOTEM SERIES
FAKE SAGA
THE WEATHER FORECASTING STONE
YET TO BE FILED
DRAWINGS
LIST OF SELF-DEVELOPED WEBSITE PROJECTS
EXHIBITION VIEW
PASTRY(with HJ Keem, JY Park)
TEXT
ESSAY
CV
toomanysulkies@gmail.com
WHAT I HAVE SEEN
Looking the fountain in a massive shopping mall, in the capital city, Seoul. I felt that the forms of water streams are becoming increasingly sophisticated. The overwhelming grandeur of such monumental structures often leaves me feeling small. I tend to resist sculptures that impose a sense of powerlessness. I wanted to break away from that feeling. Inspired by the simplicity of fountains I had seen before, I created a minimal fountain sculpture to express the essence of water streams.
Photographs 5-8 by Junyong Cho, courtesy of Museumhead.
This piece, created after CITY FOUNTAIN, reflects on fountains and imported cultural symbols. Whenever I see Western sculptures thoughtlessly introduced into Korea, I find it both amusing and bitter how these symbols, once brought in as icons of urban sophistication, quickly fall out of fashion and end up abandoned throughout the city.
The Manneken Pis from Brussels, frequently used in Korean interiors. I questioned the purpose of these sculptures when they arrived and the process by which they faded from fashion. These reflections shaped this work, exploring the fleeting nature of trends and cultural appropriation.
These pieces were exhibited in Monumental at Museumhead, Seoul in 2023.
Photographs 5 and 6 by Hyunseok Lee, courtesy of Agency GOP.
I began to take notice of the glass information labels on bus windows. Like fingerprints, these labels are scattered throughout the city, often unnoticed unless closely observed. Unlike actual fingerprints, they do not easily fade, yet their subtle presence intrigued me. I became particularly interested in their visual aspects, such as design, typography, and layout. This process felt similar to observing fingerprint patterns.
This was exhibited in City Recipe (the 3rd solo show) at Cheongju Creative Art Studio,
seoul in 2022.
25x50x5 cm
The B.U.S is a set of works descended from Wiper. It was created under the conditions of producing descendant pieces within saleable, limited dimensions set by the exhibition. The black frame represents the black edges of bus windows but is also designed to resemble
a small showcase. Through this showcase, I arranged urban landscapes that caught my attention, much like a diary scrapbook.
These pieces were exhibited in Tillering 3: Take me to the Moon at News Museum,
seoul in 2024.
Photographs 3 and 4 by Hyung Kyu Kim.
This piece recreates a donkey statue from an amusement park, inspired by a photograph. The statue, from the European fairy
tale Donkeyskin, would “poop” chocolate coins when operated. Beyond the disappearance of a single sculpture, it highlights the fleeting nature of trends, connecting to abandoned statues and ornaments in urban spaces. In today’s cities, where trends and consumption repeat, I explore the symbolic and aesthetic value
of these forgotten sculptures.
This was exhibited in The Dog, the Wolf, and the Doppelganger Forest at Space Mirage, seoul in 2024.