Bae Sejin uses clay as a medium to record time. The long process of shaping small clay fragments, allowing them to dry, and firing them at high temperatures embodies the cyclical nature of time. To intensify the repetitive nature of ceramics, the artist cuts clay plates into small blocks, inscribes each with a serial number, and assembles them into geometric structures. These connected fragments form sculptural compositions that also extend into the plane. In the planar works, the artist prints or presses the serial numbers at the bottom of the paper in ink, without spacing.
In this exhibition, the sequence begins with 349779. These numbers are both a record and a trace of time and effort accumulated through clay and handwork. The artist shifts the act of numbering from ‘stamping’ to ‘writing’, reconfiguring both material and firing methods to suit the scale of the fragments. Planar works created with natural clay, pliable materials, and carbonization are not auxiliary to sculpture but stand as an independent work. Sculpture no longer remains fixed in form, but expands continuously through fragmentation, connection, repetition, and accumulation. In this way, the fragments become more than marks of record; they emerge as a language that mediates material, body, and time.
349779, Records in Form reflects the artist’s exploration of reconstructing sculpture into the planar. This experiment—at once a section of process and form—seeks new possibilities for sculpture and proposes another visual language born between record and experiment.
In this exhibition, the sequence begins with 349779. These numbers are both a record and a trace of time and effort accumulated through clay and handwork. The artist shifts the act of numbering from ‘stamping’ to ‘writing’, reconfiguring both material and firing methods to suit the scale of the fragments. Planar works created with natural clay, pliable materials, and carbonization are not auxiliary to sculpture but stand as an independent work. Sculpture no longer remains fixed in form, but expands continuously through fragmentation, connection, repetition, and accumulation. In this way, the fragments become more than marks of record; they emerge as a language that mediates material, body, and time.
349779, Records in Form reflects the artist’s exploration of reconstructing sculpture into the planar. This experiment—at once a section of process and form—seeks new possibilities for sculpture and proposes another visual language born between record and experiment.
