The Ongoing Process of Becoming... Sung Heeseung Solo Exhibition 'Eternal Becoming'

Hakgojae Through February 7

Hakgojae is hosting Sung Heeseung's solo exhibition, 'Eternal Becoming,' through February 7. This exhibition focuses on the artist's worldview, which perceives painting not as a finished product but as an ongoing process of becoming, and presents it through her body of work.

Interior view of Sung Heeseung's solo exhibition 'Eternal Becoming'. Courtesy of Hakgojae

Rather than depicting specific subjects, Sung Heeseung has accumulated the sense of time spent lingering and gazing onto the canvas. The repeated brushstrokes and layered dots may appear spontaneous, but beneath this lies an order and structure that considers the balance and rhythm of the surface. Painting, for her, is less about 'what was painted' and more about 'how one lingered'-it is an act of recording presence.

The core concept running through her work is 'becoming.' In her early work, the 'circle' symbolized completion and cycles. Later, through an exploration of the 'triangle,' her compositions expanded into structures where stability and tension, creation and collapse coexist. The recently introduced 'star' does not point to any specific symbol. Instead, it represents a point where circles and triangles, completion and expansion, overlap-a form that contemplates the potential for relationships and vitality.

In this exhibition, painting is revealed as an act akin to prayer or meditation. No single work is completed in a short period; instead, layers of time accumulate through a rhythm of interruption and resumption. Restrained colors such as ivory, beige, gray, and pastel tones create subtle changes through absorption and layering rather than strong contrasts.

The viewing experience itself is designed as a process. From a distance, the structure and flow of the canvas emerge; up close, the tremor of the brushstrokes and traces of time become visible. Rather than imposing a specific interpretation, the paintings gradually open up, responding to the time each viewer spends with their own gaze and breath. Sung Heeseung's 'Eternal Becoming' proposes a temporal experience of painting that remains in a state of becoming, rather than moving toward completion.