Frieze Seoul, 2026: Resonant Matter

Long before an artist intervenes, every material possesses inherent behaviours that shape what it can become. Clay yields to gravity. Glass records heat. Timber resists deformation. Copper darkens and accumulates the trace of the hand. Resin captures and diffuses light.

For its presentation within Frieze Seoul’s Material Practice section, Charles Burnand Gallery brings together Kyeok Kim, Fredrik Nielsen, Heechan Kim, Peter Lane, Marc Fish, Studio Furthermore, Fabrikr and Inhye Ji, working in an exhibition exploring the relationship between artist and material. Rather than treating materials as passive substances awaiting form, the artists work with their intrinsic properties, allowing tension, resistance, translucency, gravity and transformation to remain visible within the finished work.

Highlight works include a new monumental ceramic wall sculpture by Brooklyn-based artist Peter Lane, whose practice expands clay into architectural and geological form; new sculptural works by Fredrik Nielsen, whose blown and cast glass sculptures push the material beyond refinement and fragility; and new works by Heechan Kim, whose steam-bent timber and copper constructions reveal the dynamic relationship between the maker’s hand and the natural resilience of wood.

The presentation also includes new copper wire, ottchil and carbon vessels by Seoul-based artist Kyeok Kim; works from Marc Fish’s Ethereal series, combining wood and translucent resin; sculptural furniture by Studio Furthermore, crafted from recycled aluminium; new work in development by Seoul-based Fabrikr; and an illuminated chandelier by Inhye Ji, exploring the transference of light through opaque hand-coloured resin.

Collectively, these works challenge conventional distinctions between sculpture, collectable design and material practice, proposing that the finished work emerges through a reciprocal relationship between artist and material.