Abstract: Honorable Mention 2025 (professional)
ENTRY DESCRIPTION
This work isolates a fragment of the human body into an extremely simplified form, presenting it in a manner that evokes the delicate image of flower petals. By doing so, it seeks to transcend the body as a mere object of representation, reconfiguring it as a metaphor for both nature and existence. The gently converging curves embody notions of vitality and genesis, inviting the viewer to contemplate the multilayered possibilities of interpretation that emerge at the threshold between corporeality, nature, and abstraction.
AUTHOR
Bang Sanghyeok (b.1988) graduated from an art high school with a major in sculpture and, at the age of 19, enlisted in the Navy.
After completing his service, he received a camera from his father, marking the beginning of his photographic journey.
In 2011, he encountered his first photographic muse and began exploring themes of love, relationships, and everyday life through his images.
For him, the most meaningful act in photography was capturing those he loved. Yet, after breakups, he was often asked to erase the photographs.
Within this cycle of shooting and erasing, love and loss, he gathered the traces that remained and held his first exhibition.
On the final day, his first muse secretly left a note in the guestbook that read, “The photos are not good,” before leaving.
Since then, he has been unable to photograph those he loves, though he has never put down his camera.
Seven years later, he presented the exhibition Love Ending, declaring that “love no longer exists.”
Still, amid confusion and emptiness, he continues to photograph, questioning the meaning of life and relationships through his work.
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