Soluna Fine Art is delighted to present Breathing of Light, the first solo exhibition of the Korean glass artist Lee Kyou-Hong in Hong Kong. Within the exhibition Soluna Fine Art will present seven new mixed-media works highlighting Lee’s current practice and exploration of the material and metaphorical qualities of glass. The exhibition will be on view from April 26 - May 22, 2019, with an opening reception in the presence of the artist on Friday, April 26, from 6-8pm.

 

In this latest series, Lee has created works that explore the materiality and phenomenological metamorphosis of glass to examine the concept of ‘정중동’ ‘靜中動’ (movements in stillness). Titled, Breathing of Light, these works predominantly work with a base layer of flat painted mirror and laminated glass primarily utilising red, yellow and blue, with three dimensional wedges of glass arranged irregularly on the surface. This compositional form confers Lee’s perception of harmonic beauty in a chaotic situation, and visually describes his search for balance in life. The thematic juxtaposition of harmony in chaos is furthered by the contrast in textures of the glass elements. In this regard, despite the rough configuration of the wedges, they lie upon the flat surface like droplets of water making no physical indentation or impression on its serenity.

 

With natural-light, the works create dreamy light reflections and colour changes, altering the environment and the surroundings and creating continuous movement within the work. Lee Kyou-Hong describes this exploration of the contours of light in the series as:

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“... song to praise for the divine, brilliant light. The light from my heart radiates a strong positive energy, but also possesses the view of ‘정중동’ ‘靜中動’(movement in stillness), or ‘공’; ‘空’ (the state of emptiness).”

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Lee’s experimentation with glass as a medium began during his time as a Masters student at Edinburgh College of Art in the UK. His early works mostly dealt with the idea of life and time – his own experiences in time and the stories held within different things, people and spaces. One of the series from that period was Waiting for Resurrection, an installation piece that captured birth and growth in the form of undefined glass bulbs fused onto long elastic fabric suspended from the ceiling.

 

Lee then went on to hone his craft as an architectural glass specialist for over ten years, creating decorative interior installations and objects. From here Lee progressed his practice into a more expressive realm utilising his fine art practice as a means to pursue a self-reflective reconnaissance. In a sense, instead of presenting his craftsmanship and ideas externally, he wanted to start treating glass as medium from a different perspective: a medium for him to communicate with light and nature through a meditative and process driven artistic expression.