Sisan Lee's furniture shows traces of its manufacturing

Korean artist and interior designer Sisan Lee is known for amalgamating natural forms with industrial, fabricated metal elements, an approach he has had for several years now. His earlier works comprise stainless sheets arranged around rough stones, or items cast from tree stumps and branches, resulting in functional sculptures that juxtapose nature and artificiality; Neolithic and contemporary.

For his latest exhibition, titled X, Lee has leant fully into the industrial side of his practice, removing the boulders and logs, and instead focusing fully on metalwork and the intriguing results obtained as a result of different manufacturing techniques. 'Elements or phenomena occurring in the surrounding industrial process were explored, and the natural appearance of the industry was captured and expressed as works of various things such as furniture and objects,' said Lee, who worked with Tariq Dixon of design studio and curatorial platform Trnk on the collection.

Sisan Lee presents 'X' at 

Commonly available materials like raw steel plates and square pipes are combined into various arrangements, and importantly, their joints are expressed overtly and celebrated aesthetically, 'rather than destroying or concealing them,' as would typically be approached for consumer products, Lee explained.

Pipes of various sizes are connected or intersected to highlight the characteristics of each material, forming a collection of furniture that includes various scales and uses. The designs are simple and geometric, helping to draw attention to the way they’re put together. They include a stool that stacks into a shelving unit, a chair with an X-shaped seat and two tall backrest elements, and L-shaped tables and low platforms with herringbone-patterned tops, which slot together to create rectangular pieces.

On the I Stools, the bulbous welding joints between elements that would typically be sanded down are left raised to show how the pieces were fused. Where he has sanded the welds, across blackened mild steel X chairs and Uncover wall panels, Lee has similarly made no attempt to cover the scratch marks on the furniture, instead leaving these silver scars as decorative elements. His L Tables in aluminium, which the designer describes as a weak metal, also show-off the scores and dents that occur during their assembly.

Other items include vessels and trivets built up from multiple square tubes of shiny stainless steel. Heating the metal to temperatures high enough to join the parts results in oil-like dispersions of colours across their surfaces, which Lee has also intentionally highlighted. All have been produced in a limited run and feature unique markings.

Each of the traces of manufacture across the collection 'are material representations that distinguish the difference between design and art beyond the results of aesthetic expressions, and they are also traces that the artist has agonised over,' Lee said.

This development in his practice has allowed Lee to consider some of the intricacies that define the two disciplines he straddles: 'I have been thinking about the gap between art and design, between the artist and the interior designer, but I couldn't find a clear answer to it,' he revealed. 'I think the process of finding contact points while preparing for the exhibition itself was very meaningful, and it was good to show people a new side of me.'

It’s fitting that the exhibition was conceived in collaboration with Trnk, the curatorial platform that initially discovered Lee shortly after he graduated and became the first US retailer to sell his work. This continuing relationship and support has helped to refine Lee’s work, he said, and his interior design studio, Practice, is currently working on a series of products in a wider range of materials, which will also be available exclusively through Trnk in the near future.

X runs until 31 March 2024 at Trnk, 18 Jay Street, New York

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