The Korean word for “forest (숲)” is formed by the combination of the Hangul letters ㅅ, ㅜ, and ㅍ. If we interpret ㅅ as the Chinese character for “person (人)”, take 一 from ㅜ, and connect it to ㅍ, it becomes 立, meaning “to stand.”
Thus, the word ‘forest’ becomes a landscape of people (人) who stand (立) alone (一), yet together.
The artist collected fallen trees uprooted by typhoons and branches trimmed from acacia and zelkova trees. To make the broken and fallen branches stand upright, he inverted them, placing their roots toward the sky. As the surfaces were charred black with fire, the lines and textures of the wood stand out more vividly. Individuals standing quietly on their own come together to form a forest.