Seongsan Art Hall

Park Suk Won, Accumulation-20028, 1982-2013, korean paper on union (110), 121 × 240 cm
Park Suk Won, Accumulation-20029, 1982-2013, korean paper on union (100), 121 × 240 cm

In his Accumulation series, Park delves into a methodology of stacking as a way of seeking the essence of nature. Though Park’s representative earlier work takes the form of sculpture in stone, wood, and iron, the Accumulation series is made up of flat works. Accumulation, here meaning to stack or pile up, is composed of layers of Hanji paper glued together and layered on the canvas to form a structure. The works on display in this exhibition, Accumulation-20028 and Accumulation-20029, reveal the patterns of division, union, and repetition found all around us, from the smallest living cell to the vast and transcendent universe writ large.

 

Seongsan Shell Mound

Park Suk Won, Accumulation (積意) 14037-gravity, 2014, granite, 65 × 30 × 30 cm ( × 6pcs )

Sculptor Park Suk Won explains sculpture as “an aesthetics of the fundamental relationship between nature and humans.” Building his own sculptural world by repeatedly “cutting” and “stacking” with natural materials, Park has freed himself from the constraints of reproduction. Accumulation (積意) 14037-gravity, which has an atypically cut bottom surface and is horizontally stacked into repeating rows, is particularly notable for the openness and flexibility of the relational settings in play.

 

Seongsan Shell Mound

Park Suk Won, Handle, 1968-2005, aluminum, 63 × 200 × 63 cm

This is an early work from Park’s Handle series, which dates back to the late 1960s. The Handle series broke with the sculptural conventions of the day by not incorporating a pedestal, showcasing an avant-garde consciousness. A transitional work in the progression of the artist’s practice toward abstract sculpture, Handle pursues the typical finished beauty of balance and form while also demonstrating the techniques involved in welded aluminum work, a mainstay of sculptors at the time.