Born in 1990s South Korea, I witnessed a society constructed by an ideal of extreme efficiency. While our economic growth birthed a global "K-brand," I’ve realized that, in this rush for collective success, individual stories that did not fit the polished and consumable image were forgotten. This structural neglect has instilled in the younger generations a sense of an 'inescapable body' and a 'suspended future.' My work builds upon this collective disorientation, investigating how society physically and emotionally displaces those who exist outside its idealized image.
I create elaborate sets and hire actors as a parallel to modern media. In my work, I use its language but with the real flawed world as the subject matter. The video works expand into installations that function as a "counter-set." By removing the "front" of the stage and exposing its structural rear, I aim to dissolve the boundary between the polished facade and the collapsed reality behind it.
My process begins with candid conversations. I distill these lived experiences into fragmented narratives. Using fantasy not as escapism, but as a mechanism to create inescapable environments, my videos use infinite loops, transforming Sisyphus-like repetition into a visceral, physical sensation. This carries over into my videos, where these fragments play on infinite loops. I want the viewer to feel the repetition as a physical weight.
EDUCATION
2021 - 2023
Royal College of Art, London, UK(Distinction)
M.A. in Sculpture
29 Feb 2014 - 21 Feb 2020
University of Seoul, Seoul, Korea
B.F.A in Environmental Sculpture, Magna Cum Laude
SOLO EXHIBITION
14 Nov - 5 Dec 2025
Wanderbound - Faction, Seoul, Korea (Funded by Arts Council Korea, Korea)
18 April - 5 May 2024 (Collective Solo)
Stove by a Whale - Staffordshire st Gallery, London, UK (Production budget sponsored by the Eaton fund)
15 Mar - 13 Apr 2024
Naumachia - Caption Seoul, Seoul, Korea (Funded by Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture, Seoul Metropolitan City)
21 May - 6 June 2021
Survival Diary - Rainbow Cube Gallery, Seoul, Korea
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITION
30 Oct - 9 Nov 2025
Split Bliss - Artist house, Daejeon, Korea
Next Code 2025: Stage Where It All Unfolded - Daejeon Museum of Art, Daejeon, Korea
17 Apr - 25 Apr 2025
Preview Show - Artist residency TEMI&Ohyeou, Daejeon, Korea
29 Mar - 11 Apr 2025
Caption Seoul Archive 001 - Caption Seoul, Seoul, Korea
23 - 25 May 2024
Occult Surge - Moosey Gallery, London, UK
23 - 31 Jul 2023
Attention! - Sojourner Gallery, New York, USA
13 - 16 Jul 2023
RCA 2023 Degree Show - Truman Brewery, London, UK
17- 19 Mar 2023
Hung, Drawn & Quartered - Standpoint Gallery(Residency), London, UK
9 - 22 Oct 2022
Stack - 67 York Street, London, UK
6 - 14 Aug 2022
Pure Class - RCA Working Class Collective Summer Show 2022, St. John on Bethnal Green, London, UK
28 - 29 May 2022
WILD STONE - Van Gogh House, London, UK
20 - 26 May 2022
Home | Away: Narratives of Dislocation and Estrangement - MP Birla Millennium Art Gallery, London, UK
23 Apr - 12 Jun 2022
196th RSA Annual Exhibition - Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
3 - 6 March 2022
In Search of Overwhelming Banality: the Status Quo in Public Spaces - One Minute Space, Athens, Greece
26 - 27 Feb 2022
We Won’t Stop Showing - SET Woolwich, London, UK
28 Jan - 4 Feb 2022
WIP Show (online show) - Royal College of Art, London, UK
8 Dec 2019 - 3 Jan 2020
How shall we meet here - Gallery Woolim, Seoul, Korea
16 - 29 Oct 2019
Open Studio - Gallery 9P, Seoul, Korea
CURATION
25 Feb - 15 Mar 2025
Steven He solo exhibition <harusari: one day living thing> - Chamber, Seoul, Korea
LECTURE
14 Mar 2023
Artist Talk and Workshop on body - University for Creative Arts, Farnham, UK
22 Feb 2023
Artist Talk - South Thames University, London, UK
19 Jun 2022
One Minute Tour - Walkative Society, London, UK
11 Feb 2022
Deviant Sens8ion - University of Arts London, Camberwell College of Arts, London, UK
AWARD / SCHOLARSHIP/ RESIDENCY
2026
Cheongju Art Studio 20th Resident Artist - Cheongju, Korea
2026
The Gilbert Bayes Award 2026 - The Gilbert Bayes Trust, UK
2025
The Support for Arko Young Artists (2025) Project Grant (Visual Arts)- Arts Council Korea, Korea
2025
Artist Residency TEMI 12th Resident Artist - Daejeon, Korea
2024
Project Grant - Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture, Korea
2024
Eaton Artists Grants - the Eaton Fund
2023
Long listed - Robert Walters Group UK New Artist of the Year Award 2023(UK)
2023
Shortlisted - Bloomberg New Contemporaries (UK)
2023
Residency - Standpoint Gallery, London, UK
2023
The Gilbert Bayes RCA Award - The Gilbert Bayes Trust, UK
5 Apr 2016
Seoul Mayor’s Scholarship
4 Aug 2014
Seoul Mayor’s Scholarship
MEDIA REPORT
2025 VOGUE KOREA, Online magazine article 「든 자리는 몰라도 난 자리는 알게 되는 전시」
2024 Art Papers [Features] - "How To Make an Old World New? Notes on the Whales in the Room" by Stephanie Bailey
청주에서 나고 자란 이성은은 중심부를 향한 열망이 삶의 궤적을 결정짓는 지방 도시에서 주변부의 감각을 체화했다. 지리적 경계와 심리적 결핍이 교차하는 지점에서 목격한 것은 극단적 효율성이라는 견고한 질서다. 집단적 성공을 향한 맹렬한 질주는 매끄럽게 다듬어진 소비용 이미지를 쉼 없이 생산해내지만, 그 질서에 부합하지 못하는 주변부의 사적인 서사들은 소리 없이 망각된다. 이러한 구조적 소외는 특정 시대를 공유하는 이들에게 ‘탈출 불가능한신체’와 ‘유예된 미래’라는 감각을 각인시켰다. 작가는 이러한 집단적 방향 상실을 토대로, 사회가 이상화된 이미지 밖에 존재하는 이들을 물리적, 정서적으로 어떻게 밀어내는지 탐구한다.
작업은 주변의 미시사에서 출발하여 그들의 삶의 경험들을 파편화된 서사로 정제한다. 판타지를 도피 수단이 아닌 ‘탈출 불가능한 환경’을 조성하는 기제로 활용하며, 영상의 무한한 루프(loop)를 통해 시시포스적 반복을 본능적이고 물리적인 감각으로 변환한다. 파편들이 무한히 되풀이되는 장면 속에서 작가는 관객이 그 반복의 무게를 하나의 물리적 실체로 마주하길 기대한다.
또한 이 과정에서 작가는 현대 미디어의 구조를 차용하여 정교한 세트를 제작하고 배우를 고용한다. 매끄러운 미디어의 언어를 사용하되, 결함투성이인 실제 세계를 그 주제로 삼는다. 영상 작업은 일종의 ‘카운터 세트(counter-set)’로서 기능하는 설치로 확장된다. 무대의 ‘앞면’을 해체하고 구조적인 뒷면을 노출함으로써, 견고해 보이는 외관과 그 이면에 붕괴된 현실 사이의 경계를 허문다.
학력
2021 - 2023
영국 왕립 예술 대학교, 미술대학원, 조소과, 런던, 영국(우수 논문)
2014 2. 29 - 2020 2. 21
서울시립대학교, 예술체육대학, 환경조각학과 학사 최우등 졸업, 서울
개인전
2025. 11. 14 - 12. 5
Wanderbound - Faction, 서울 (후원. 한국문화예술위원회)
Stove by a Whale - Staffordshire st Gallery, 런던 (제작비 지원: the Eaton fund)
2024. 3. 15 - 4. 13
Naumachia - 캡션서울, 서울 (후원. 서울문화재단, 서울특별시)
2021. 5. 21 - 6. 6
Survival Diary - 레인보우 큐브 갤러리, 서울
단체전
2025. 10. 30 - 11. 9
Split Bliss - 대전 예술가의 집, 대전
넥스트코드 2025 : 사건의 무대 - 대전시립미술관, 대전
2025. 4. 17 - 25
Preview전 - 테미예술창작센터&오늘여기우리, 대전
2025. 3. 29 - 4. 11
Caption Seoul Archive 001 - 캡션서울, 서울
2024. 5. 23 - 25
Occult Surge - Moosey Gallery, 런던
2023. 7. 23 - 31
Attention! - Sojourner Gallery, 뉴욕
2023. 7.13 - 16
RCA 2023 Degree Show - Truman Brewery, 런던
2023. 3. 17 - 19
Hung, Drawn & Quartered - Standpoint Gallery(Residency), 런던
2022. 10. 9 - 22
Stack - 67 York Street, 런던
2022. 8. 6 - 14
Pure Class - RCA Working Class Collective Summer Show 2022, St. John on Bethnal Green, 런던
2022. 5. 28 - 29
WILD STONE - Van Gogh House, 런던
2022. 5. 20 - 26
Home | Away: Narratives of Dislocation and Estrangement - MP Birla Millennium Art Gallery, 런던
2022. 4. 23 - 6. 12
196th RSA Annual Exhibition - Royal Scottish Academy, 에딘버러
2022. 3. 3 - 6
In Search of Overwhelming Banality: the Status Quo in Public Spaces - One Minute Space, 아테네
2022. 2. 26 - 27
We Won’t Stop Showing - SET, 런던
2022. 1. 28 - 2. 4
WIP Show (online show) - Royal College of Art, 런던
2019. 12. 8 - 2020. 1. 3
How shall we meet here - 갤러리 울림, 서울
2019. 10. 16 - 29
Open Studio - Gallery 9P, 서울
기획
2025. 2. 25 - 3. 15
Steven He 개인전 <harusari: one day living thing> - 챔버, 서울
강의
2023. 3. 14
Artist Talk and Workshop on body - University for Creative Arts, Farnham, 영국
2023. 2. 22
Artist Talk - South Thames University, 런던
2022. 6. 19
One Minute Tour - Walkative Society, 런던
2022. 2. 11
Deviant Sens8ion - University of Arts London, Camberwell College of Arts, 런던
수상/레지던시
2026
청주미술창작스튜디오 20기 입주작가, 청주
2026
The Gilbert Bayes Award 2026 - The Gilbert Bayes Trust, 영국
청년예술가도약지원 (시각예술 부문) - 한국문화예술위원회, 한국
2025
테미예술창작스튜디오 12기 입주작가, 대전
2024
예술창작활동지원 (A트랙) - 서울문화재단, 서울
2024
Eaton Artists Grants - the Eaton Fund, 영국
2023
Long listed - Robert Walters Group UK New Artist of the Year Award 2023, 영국
2023
Shortlisted - Bloomberg New Contemporaries, 영국
2023. 2.13 - 3.13
Standpoint Gallery(레지던시), 런던
2023
The Gilbert Bayes RCA Award (The Gilbert Bayes Trust, UK)
2016. 4. 5
서울시장 장학금
2014. 8. 4
서울시장 장학금
미디어 리포트
2025 VOGUE KOREA, Online magazine article 「든 자리는 몰라도 난 자리는 알게 되는 전시」
2024 Art Papers [Features] - "How To Make an Old World New? Notes on the Whales in the Room" by Stephanie Bailey