source: artwork-koreablogspot
Lee Gil-Rae’s work presents a possibility of post-sculpture, while maintaining an aesthetic of traditional sculpture as expressed, for example, in the labor intensive weaving process. His work presents a form that lacks massiveness, has a structure wherein the inside runs through the outside, and a pictorial situation. Through all of this, his work maintains a dual-tension relationship with traditional sculpture, and there the distinctive character of Lee Gil-Rae’s work begins. He has been consistently pursuing inherent or original forms of nature, and his subject matter has included such things as a lost castle, archeological excavations, creation, cohesion and recently he made his ‘Tree Series.’

A Lost Castle. Lee Gil-Rae’s earlier series of work ‘A Lost Castle’ reminds us of the remains of a civilized society. The conception and impression of the work seem to suggest the legendary Atlantis that is known to have sunk into the ocean after having developed highly civilized life styles or the ancient ruins of Pompeii that fascinated classicists, and at the same time it reminds of sentiments of romanticists who were more familiar with death than life. As we all well know, the romanticists tend to be excited about past rather than present, ideal rather than real life, death rather than life. They enthuse about traces of civilization such as tombs or ancient remains. The reason why they are fascinated by the traces of life rather than the life itself is probably because they remind them of the lost and the forgotten rather than a resurrection of the ancient civilization itself.

In this manner, Lee’s consciousness aims at the past rather than at actual life. In ‘A Lost Castle’, the castle signifies the childhood of the artist, the utopia existing in the inner self of the artist and also an imaginative city like sand castles made by the artist’s imagination. Through the mirage created by the work, the artist returns himself to his childhood, at the same time encounters his alter ego. This seems to suggest an aspect of the artist’s self-reflection over the evasion of reality.

Archeological Excavation. Fascinated by the remains of the lost ancient civilization, the artist imports the concept of excavation itself, and takes it a step further beyond the mere realization of the remains. For instance, after digging the ground, the artist puts fiberglass reinforced plastic into the hole in the ground, and then puts dirt into the shape again or sometimes puts some figure that he made before into the ground. Afterwards he excavates the figure from the ground. When he does this type of work, the artist is not prepared with the exact outcome of the work, but only guesses. The shape that is produced through the inter-related process of the surface of the ground with the FRP can be described as incidental and unexpected. It is a shape made by nature. Although the minimal beginnings of the resulting shape is provided by the artist, the finished shape itself has been naturally produced by the nature of the ground and the intrinsic characteristics of the materials. These forms as those of burial objects just excavated from the ground spurts out the energy of the earth and nature. In this way, the artist’s intention to excavate the significant forms through harmonizing himself with the truth of nature and the earth resembles the tendency of historians or archeologists.

Formation and Condensation. Lee’s awareness of expressions of the nature of the earth, dirt and nature naturally results in his usage of natural materials. The artist employs everything from traditional materials such as wood, iron and stone to natural materials such as clam shells, oyster shells, marsh snail shells, and fragments of pottery.

The artist constructs the overall form through the repetitive process of fixing these natural materials on sculptural materials like fiberglass reinforced plastics (FRP). Those forms are mostly minimalist geometric shapes such as round shapes, modified tetragon shapes or vertical pillars. In other words, the abstract forms and organic materials, which wouldn’t match on the external appearances, assimilate with each other and produce reverberation, energy and vitality from the inside. In this way, the relationship between the forms and the materials in Lee Gil-Rae’s work is opened to the point of contact where pure abstract ideas and the nature’s vitality meet. On the other hand, the artist also uses readymade objects like buttons or machine parts alongside natural materials.

Such recognition of the organic relationship between the parts and the whole became relatively more clear and standardized in the works made of copper pipes. In this series, after cutting pipes to a certain size, Lee repeatedly puts those round shaped pipes together. Since these assembled pipes are cut in the same size and shape, comparing to other works with the natural materials, the organic relationship between the part and the whole is revealed more clearly in this series.

A Tree. Lee’s interest in nature hits a turning point in the combination between the inner vitality of nature and the sensuous shapes of nature. Finally the artist is able to express the nature’s vital power and the formation of the nature through sensuous similar shapes of the nature in the same intensity as expressing the immanent energy of the nature in the suggestive and abstract manner. Therefore, the tree shape towering high toward the sky overlaps with the symbolic meaning of Omphalos, Obelisk, Totem poles, Sotdae, the tree of life, which all signify the centre of the world. The upright shape that gives a monumental impression reflects an occult wish that connects the sky to the earth and transcends life and death. In particular, the lighting installed at the bottom of the tree emphasizes such occult senses and even creates a kind of spiritual atmosphere.

On one hand, this series of tree shapes is distinguished from traditional sculptures that are based on massiveness for its lack of voluminous sense. While maintaining a sense of traditional sculpture by applying labor intensified weaving technique, the artist is trying to find a possibility of post-sculpture that is differentiated from traditional sculpture. Moreover, one can see his recognition of border or post-border from the structure of the trees that the inside and outside are interconnected to each other.
Combined with abovementioned factors, the decisive factor that differentiates Lee’s work from the traditional sculpture is its pictorial tendency. Not only the figurative shape, but also the repetitively accumulated form made by copper pipe fragments is associated with linear drawings. Lee’s work is rather trying to overcome the border between a painting and a sculpture and reach to an installation of space or a space presentation, and particularly he is trying to represent traditional landscape painting drawn in Chinese ink into space. Indeed, his work creates an illusion for the linear tree shapes installed on the wall as if we are walking inside a landscape painting.

As we all know, in traditional Korean landscape paintings, even if there is no human figure in the picture, the existence of a human is suggested. As the marginal space in the painting is not considered to be empty, the existence of a human exists in the painting in the manner of absence. From this, in effect, we can enjoy and relish the landscape paintings. When interpreting it with Laozi’s reasoning, that is the state of ‘enjoyment in untroubled ease’, and when interpreting it with Gilles Deleuze’s discourse, that is the nomadism of thinking. In any case, the artist realizes the desire to walk inside the landscape paintings, which is barely implied with the help of imagination. In this way, Lee Gil-Rae’s work suggests a totally different way of using space and realizing a desire.
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source: mjunglecokr
자연물의 생성원리로서의 ‘응집’과 자연물에 내재해 있는 무궁무진한 ‘생명성’에 주목하여, 이를 한국의 소나무를 소재로 역동적인 형태의 조형작업으로 완성하는 조각가 이길래가 신작 20여 점을 선보인다.

이길래 작품의 특징 중 하나는 다양한 조각 재료를 수천·수백 개 이어붙여 나가면서 하나의 커다란 형태를 완성시키는 것이다. 특히 작가는 조각 특유의 조형미와 손의 감각이 강하게 느껴지는 전통적인 용접기법을 고집하면서 꾸준한 작품활동을 펼쳐왔다.
그의 작품은 형태에 대한 감각, 고도의 집중력과 인고의 시간, 힘든 노동과 숙련된 기술을 요한다. 현대 조각 작품에서 쉽게 찾아볼 수 없는 점이다. 전통 조각 본연의 아름다움을 보여준다고 할 수 있다.

이번 전시에서 작가는 동파이프를 일정한 간격으로 잘라 타원형으로 만든 다음 수백 혹은 수천 개의 타원형 고리를 이어붙이면서 소나무 형상을 만들어낸다. 비록 동파이프를 절단해서 만든 인공의 소나무지만 꺼칠한 소나무의 질감이나 다양한 형태는 실제 소나무를 닮았다.
소나무 형태도 다양하다. 자연스럽게 구부러진, 곧게 서있는, 뱀처럼 똬리를 튼, 심지어 인체를 연상시키는 소나무도 있다. 작가는 조각가 특유의 천부적인 조형감각을 토대로 차갑고 인공적인 재료인 동파이프에 생명을 불어넣어 새로운 형태의 자연물을 창조해낸다.

이길래 작품이 지닌 또 하나의 특징은 조각이면서, 전통 조각과는 다른 형식을 취하고, 회화의 영역까지 넘나드는 자유로운 형식의 작품을 선보인다는 것이다.
특히 이번 전시에서는 전시장 공간을 100% 활용한 설치작품을 대거 선보인다. 입체와 부조 형태로 제작된 3m에 육박하는 소나무 작품 23점을 이용하여 마치 관객들이 소나무가 우거져 있는 숲을 거니는 듯한 느낌을 받을 수 있는 공간으로 연출했다.
관객들은 산수화에 표현된 공간 속을 거니는 체험을 할 수 있다. 본래 작품과 작품의 그림자가 혼합되어, 숲의 공간감을 극대화시킨 작품이다.

이길래의 작품은 가까운 거리와 먼 거리에 따라 다각적으로 작품을 감상하는 이색 체험을 할 수 있다. 이색 체험이란, 가까운 거리에서는 타원형 청동고리들이 연출하는 노동집약적인 감동을 느끼고, 먼 거리에서는 대자연의 무한한 에너지를 만끽하는 것을 말한다. 그림자 효과로 인해 작품과 작품이 놓여 있는 공간까지 함께 감상하면서 그 감동은 배가 된다.
가깝게 혹은 멀리에서 작품을 겹으로 감상하는 것을 통해 사물을 바라보는 방식에도 변화가 생기고, 조각 작품을 감상하는 방법도 터득하게 된다.