Symbols and Icons Filling the Canvas... Abstract Landscapes Discovered Amidst Strangeness

Lee Sangnam Solo Exhibition 'Fortress of Sensation' at PKM Gallery until April 16
Built with graphic symbols and imagery, using analog methods
Abstract landscapes realized through 50-100 average repetitions of painting and sanding

The Fortress of Sense (J 322), 2017-2018. Photo by PKM Gallery

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heeyoon] “We fear what we do not know. Simply because we do not know them!”

Set in the 12th-century Goryeo period, the story of the orphan boy dreaming of becoming a potter while uncovering the secrets of celadon in A Piece of Gold Dust by Korean-American author Linda Su Park points to ignorance as the root cause of fear that crushes challenges. When the protagonist Moki’s path to learning the potter’s wheel is cut off and the way to making ceramics becomes bleak, he discovers handcrafting and creates new ceramics.

The works of Lee Sangnam (69), a painter active in New York, resemble gold dust in the world of symbolic signs realized through analog work in an era dominated by graphics. In his solo exhibition at PKM Gallery in Samcheong-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, running until April 16, the symbols and icons filling his massive canvases look like graphics in videos, but upon closer inspection, they are the product of layers painstakingly built up by hand. The artist boldly introduces the landscape of a world unknown to us with dense and intense brushstrokes, fearlessly diving into it.

Artist Sangnam Lee standing in front of the artwork. Photo by PKM Gallery

The artist’s work began with collecting icons and signs left by human civilization. Reflecting on these diverse images, he created numerous geometric sculptural symbols, which he arranged and combined in his own way to form unique abstract landscapes. Like the potter’s inlay technique used to craft ceramics, Lee Sangnam expresses our lives in contemporary society where digital and analog coexist three-dimensionally through a meditative process of painting and scraping the canvas 50 to 100 times.

Though confined to a square canvas, the abstract landscapes he expresses break free from sealed materiality and are liberated in the viewer’s imagination as scenes of a broader world through richer colors and three-dimensional spatiality. The artist calls this process a solid yet captivating “Fortress of Sensation.”

The artist explains, “The theme ‘Fortress of Sensation’ is like stacking meaningless forms of thought like a domino game. There is no goal; rather, the meaning is created by the viewer who looks at the painting and connects it themselves.”

The artist, who wanted to offer strangeness rather than disciplined and familiar access to the audience, added that the fun of these works lies in the audience discovering novelty on their own and constructing its meaning.

Light + Right M 096, 2013. Photo by PKM Gallery

He defined that if something is not strange and fresh, it cannot capture attention. When asked about his experimental painting techniques, the artist said, “People say my work looks like a scientist researching in a laboratory, and through such diverse work, I try to realize new ideas. Rather than delivering a simple and clear message through various elements in my works, I hope the audience who makes the images their own will create another storytelling.”

His works, imbued with his wishes, are records of the artist’s arduous journey building up complex emotions such as imagination, fun, and beauty, and viewers find themselves captivated by the energy coming from that intense maze without even realizing it.

Lee Sangnam’s Fortress of Sensation is on view at PKM Gallery until April 16.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.