A new project Silentium (Muksiam) by Lee Ufan, one of Korea’s most influential contemporary artists is unveiled in the Heewon Traditional Garden of Hoam Museum of Art in the past November. The title Silentium is derived from the Latin word meaning “silence,” while its Korean counterpart Muksiam (默視庵) means “to gaze quietly.” These intertwined ideas underpin the project, which comprises indoor works as well as outdoor installations.

Three works inside Silentium—Floor Painting, Wall Painting, and Shadow Painting—allude to the transformation and the cyclical flow of life through various media and approaches. Central to Lee Ufan’s practice, the motif of “point,” and the “circles” formed through the infinite expansion of the “points,” and the gradual shifts in color, generate vitality and energy that resonate intuitively and emotionally with the audience. 

Meanwhile, new outdoor installations by the artist are also presented in Yetdol Garden. Three large-scale new works from the Relatum series are installed along a sloping lakeside path, directly responding to the site. As the steel, symbolizing civilization, encounters stone, representing nature, the artistic relationship between the works and the viewers walking through the space emerges organically.

Through the project, Lee Ufan invites viewers to dwell within a “space of silence.” This is his distinctive approach to initiating a dialogue in which the viewers experience the fundamentals of existence shaped through relationships, encounters, resonance, and breath. These newly conceived spaces further deepen and expand the aesthetic of “emptiness” that Lee Ufan has pursued throughout his life.