From October 16 to December 13, the Seongnam Cultural Foundation will host the '2026 Seongnam Artist Spotlight Exhibition IV: Oh Sang-min - House of Sweets.'
According to the foundation on the 15th, this exhibition highlights the artistic world of Oh Sang-min, who has explored the relationship between nature, urban environments, and humanity.
The artist will utilize rice straw and copper to transform the properties of materials, expressing the characteristics and cycles of substances that change over time and with the environment.
The exhibition will showcase sculptural works that weave solid copper like fine thread and compress fragile rice straw into sturdy structures. This approach aims to challenge preconceived notions of nature versus artificiality, as well as fragility versus strength.
Key works include 'Porous Earth' (2025), which intertwines copper using knitting and weaving techniques; 'There is No Root V' (2026), which depicts the formation and disintegration of a house based on traditional thatched-roof shapes; and the video piece 'Things That Change When No One is Watching' (2026), which captures changes over time, such as copper oxidation and the drying of rice straw.
The title 'House of Sweets' signifies the coexistence of strength and vulnerability in the nature of a house. The artist views a house not as a permanent structure but as a space that can change and disintegrate over time and with environmental influences.
Through this work, Oh raises questions about climate change, environmental issues, and the relationship between humanity and nature.
Yoon Jeong-guk, the foundation's CEO, stated, "I hope this exhibition provides a new understanding of the relationship between nature and artificiality through the transformation and characteristics of materials, while also examining the significance of climate change and contemporary art."
The exhibition is open to the public for free from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., except on Mondays.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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