Byung Hoon Choi
Korean sculptor, artist and furniture designer Byung Hoon Choi focuses on bringing together opposing forms and textures into his compositions. Known for bringing Korean influences into modern furniture design, Choi creates tranquil works of art that are executed as functional domestic objects. The juxtaposition of materials and textures visible in the artist’s works are meant to parallel the paradox of Zen Taoism: “the harmony of unifying differences.” [1] Through his Taoist practice, he is able to bring a meticulous balance to each individual creation.
In afterimage 010-348, Choi unites smooth red oak with a seemingly untouched natural stone. Together, they offer a place of respite. When speaking about his principles and philosophies, the artist stated, “my artwork [...] allows us to reflect as we reach universal values, by creating the real space of seon [known as zen in the west] through the vestiges of objects and its thoughts.” [2]
When speaking directly to the ominous title, Choi states that, “for me, ‘afterimage’ means a mysterious encounter in the imagination with the world I have not experienced. The world of imagination leads me to the creative impulse, which becomes a driving force leading me toward the unknown world. The spiritual power of serene Korean beauty, generated from the mysterious nexus of the past and the future, becomes the aesthetic source of inspiration in my oeuvre.” [2]
[1] Chung-Yuan Chang, Creativity and Taoism, London, 2011