Life Blooms From Charcoal — Sculptor Kwon Chi-gyu's Solo Show Extended Through Nov. 8

35th solo exhibition 'Blooming — The Grain of Emptiness' at Gana Art Park

Charred wood and stainless steel explore extinction, creation and nature's resilience

Indoor and outdoor spaces guide visitors from darkness into light

Sculptor Kwon Chi-gyu, whose work explores the cycle of life through charred wood and light-reflecting metal, has had his current solo exhibition extended through Nov. 8.

Gana Art Park in Yangju, Gyeonggi Province, announced that the run of Kwon's 35th solo exhibition, "Blooming — The Grain of Emptiness," has been extended to Nov. 8. The show opened Sept. 9 and was originally scheduled to close Sept. 27, but the venue extended the run to give more visitors a chance to see it.

The exhibition centers on the themes of "emptiness" and "regeneration." Using materials of contrasting properties — charred wood and stainless steel — Kwon renders in sculpture the process by which new life begins in the very place where life has ended.

Charred wood is particularly central to the work. The scorched surface of timber that has passed through fire carries traces of time and images of extinction, yet Kwon reads it not as an ending but as a space for a new beginning. He layers in shades of green, outward-reaching lines and light reflected off metal to express nature's resilience and the possibility of life.

The exhibition space is arranged to mirror those themes. Visitors begin with outdoor sculptures installed across the Gana Art Park grounds, then move through the second and third floors of the venue's Red Space building in sequence.

The second floor focuses on works made from charred wood, inviting reflection on extinction and memory. The third floor opens into a brighter, more expansive atmosphere, with sculptures in stainless steel and light. The visitor's path — moving from darkness toward light — conveys that extinction and creation are not opposites but part of a single continuum.

Throughout his career, Kwon has made the vitality, recovery and cyclical nature of the natural world his central concerns. Drawing on imagery from trees and forests, he combines metal, light and color to examine not only the forms of nature but the processes by which life sustains and transforms itself.

Notable past solo exhibitions include "Resilience — Hymn to Life: Encountering Light and Wind" at the Posco Art Museum in 2023, "Nature of Bio-Resilience" at the Kim Hee-soo Art Center in 2024, and "Twilight — Light Crossing Impermanence" presented in Andong in 2025. This year he also held "Growth Point — The Grain of Beginning" at Insa Art Center.

The current show is distinguished by its expansion of his familiar imagery of nature and life through the concept of "emptiness." It also makes full use of outdoor space alongside the indoor galleries, allowing visitors to experience the works as they shift with the changing seasons and natural light.

The exhibition runs at the Red Space second and third floors and outdoor areas of Gana Art Park in Jangheung-myeon, Yangju, Gyeonggi Province. Inquiries can be directed to Gana Art Park.

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