SILVER LINING

Thomas Barger X Heami Lee

2023. 4. 20 - 2023. 5. 12

Galerie HeA is pleased to announce its opening exhibition, <SILVER LINING>. This exhibition, in collaboration with DEAR Advisory, features the works of Seoul-based ceramic artist Heami Lee and New York-based sculptor Thomas Barger. Both artists beautifully express the materiality of their mediums, revealing surprising elements that become apparent upon closer inspection. The space, filled with the free-spirited creations of these two artists, offers a new and unique scene.

Thomas Barger, based in New York, grew up in the small, conservative, and religious town of Mattoon, Illinois. He majored in architecture and landscape design. Captivated by New York, where he can freely express his homosexual identity, Barger focuses on the differing environmental experiences as a central theme in his works. He internalizes and transforms contrasting concepts felt in rural and urban settings, tradition and innovation, and control and release into his creations. Although his works evoke a plush sensation with their free lines and soft colors, they are actually very solid and robust. His distinctive style includes sweet hues, flowing curves, and meticulously arranged elements like orderly holes.

Starting in 2016, Barger’s process involves adding paper pulp to discarded furniture, hardening it, sanding it smooth, and applying layers of color repeatedly. He mentions that he wants these sculptures to give the feeling of being "almost factory-manufactured." Straddling the line between furniture and sculpture, his works can sometimes seem to disrupt the realm of art while simultaneously confusing viewers by resembling furniture showrooms. The fact that some pieces can actually function as furniture adds a unique aspect to Barger's work. Like many contemporary designers and artists who explore meaning beyond mere decorative design, Barger is also attempting works that depart from his usual creations. This exhibition features his wall works, marking the beginning of this exploration, along with pieces that showcase unique textures inspired by his experiences in Seoul.

Alongside Thomas Barger's works, Heami Lee's silver objects illuminate various corners of the exhibition space. These pieces are created by layering silver over ceramics. Based in Seoul, Heami Lee focuses on creating tile objects from clay and explores the theme of 'the accumulation of time' in her work. She preserves the natural texture of the clay, applies glaze, fires the pieces, adds silver, fires them again, and then repeatedly polishes them. Her works are the result of time carefully crafted with dedication, and the process itself is a source of great joy for the artist. This playful process aligns with her artistic philosophy of  'homo ludens', or 'playing human'.

The silver used as the main material in Heami Lee's works undergoes a gradual transformation over time due to the process of sulfuration, changing from silver to gold, red to black. Consequently, these silver-finished pieces interact with space, temperature, and humidity, continually evolving to create new scenes and atmospheres. When placed together, objects displaying various stages of sulfuration evoke the sensation of confronting different moments in time, stirring deep emotions. While the artist builds up time through her repetitive processes to create these pieces, the natural properties of silver continue to accumulate time, transforming their appearance on their own. Honoring the understated beauty of Korean ancestors, Heami Lee showcases various interpretations of traditional Korean basin and tray forms. This exhibition features her Silver Line works inspired by Gangwon Province trays, as well as warm objects that reflect the humble and restrained beauty of our ancestors.

​​Installation View

Artworks

Featured Artist

Thomas Barger

Thomas Barger is a sculptor based in New York City. He grew up in the small, conservative, and religious town of Mattoon, Illinois, and studied architecture and landscape design. Drawn to New York, where he can freely express his homosexual identity, Barger focuses on the differing environmental experiences as a central theme in his works. He internalizes and transforms contrasting concepts felt in rural and urban settings, tradition and innovation, and control and release into his creations. Starting in 2016, Barger has been building his unique sculptural language by adding paper pulp to discarded furniture, hardening it, sanding it smooth, and applying layers of color repeatedly. His works evoke a plush sensation with their free lines and soft colors, but they are actually very solid and robust. His distinctive style includes sweet hues, flowing curves, and meticulously arranged elements like orderly holes. Straddling the line between furniture and sculpture, his works sometimes seem to disrupt the world of design, creating the illusion of being in a furniture shop. The fact that some pieces can actually function as furniture adds a unique aspect to Barger's work. His creations navigate the boundaries of furniture and sculpture, embarking on an intellectual, emotional, and spiritual journey imbued with humor.

Heami Lee 

Heami Lee is an artist based in Seoul who creates objects and tableware that are not confined to specific uses, with clay as the foundation. Her works can serve practical purposes, such as holding fruits or plants, or they can stand alone as sculptural pieces that beautifully fill a space. Encounters with landscapes make her objects more luminous, completing the work in their final placement. Heami honors the understated beauty of her ancestors, believing that true elegance lies in simplicity and restraint. 

Inspired by old and familiar things, she creates works that capture the essence of time. Her primary technique of layering silver over ceramics encapsulates her intent to respect time. For each piece, she personally handles the clay to preserve its natural texture, then layers silver on top. This process is about building time through action, capturing condensed beauty and graceful elegance. Heami's works embody a generosity that embraces the landscape within refined forms, demonstrating the expansiveness of ceramics.