Exhibition forms the second 2026 edition of the senior artist DOCU-RATING project

Ceramic artist Lee Se-Hoon will present “Flowing at the Boundary of Coexistence: Destruction, Creation and the Trajectory of the Gaze” at the multidisciplinary art space MERGE? in Busan from Sept. 1–10.

The exhibition is the second 2026 presentation in the Senior Artist DOCU-RATING Project, jointly organised by the cultural production space ARTinNATURE and MERGE?. It is supported through an arts program administered by the Busan Metropolitan Government and the Busan Cultural Foundation.

“DOCU-RATING” combines the terms “documentary” and “curating.” The project records the lives, works and creative processes of mid-career and senior artists through exhibitions and online media content.

Lee’s presentation brings together works from his continuing “Spiritual Ring” series and several works completed in 2026. Through ceramic sculpture and painting, he considers boundaries between the individual and others, as well as between humanity and nature.

One of the central installations consists of a ceramic beoksu, or village guardian figure, with its head and torso completely separated. The detached head is positioned at a distance, facing its own body. Lee said the structure was inspired by headless Buddhist statues encountered in museums and mountain settings.

Bird imagery also appears repeatedly in the exhibition. Lee uses it to consider human-centered ideas of coexistence and the ways individuals attempt to survive within social structures.

His process involves breaking and removing sections of clay, sanding and polishing surfaces, and building up new layers. The resulting works bring destruction and construction, as well as two- and three-dimensional forms, into the same space.

The exhibition includes the 2026 works “Coexistence 1” through “Coexistence 4” and “After That Day.” It marks Lee’s 16th solo exhibition.

An artist talk will take place at 5 p.m. on Sept. 4. The gallery is open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and closed on Mondays.

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