2026 - ongoing

Stone, acrylic on linen

In Common Formation, I arrange small gravel stones within a measured grid, binding them to a shared surface with acrylic paint. Gravel is ordinarily perceived as an undifferentiated mass, yet each stone possesses its own characteristics. The grid gives them equivalent positions without making them equivalent things. Its regularity makes their differences visible, while those differences continually interrupt its order.

“Formation” describes two processes operating across different timescales: geological processes that produce the stones, and my decisions that bring them into an arrangement. I determine their placement, spacing, and framing, but inherit much of their formal complexity. As in Given, the work considers the relationship between natural form and human intention.

I combine stones from Korea, where I was born, and Chicago, where I live, without distinguishing their origins. Their geographic differences remain factual but largely invisible, connecting the work to questions of land, memory, and perception explored in Shape of Land.

Drawing upon suseok, the Korean tradition of contemplating natural stones, I extend this attention to ordinary fragments. From a distance, the stones form a unified pattern. Up close, that unity dissolves into individual encounters, revealing how imposed structures shape our perception of natural forms.

Common Formation was first exhibited in Volume Gallery, Nov 7th. 2026. Read Full Text on Common Formation