Space and Perception is the title of Lee Kyuchul’s photo sculpture series, as well as a term that embodies his conceptual framework of visual experience that is premised upon perceived the world as a spherical space of reality. Lee’s first solo exhibition at KwanHoon Gallery in 1988, held 12 years after his graduation from university, presented artworks comprised of intaglio hemispherical surfaces on one side of a hexahedral wooden box, which was then wrapped with photographs. Although it appears hemispherical, the work was actually created using fragments of images that were cut into small pieces in order to fit the surface of a polyhedron sculpture, constituting a three-dimensional mosaic surface. The work gives the impression of entering a colossal sculpture and appreciating the image reflected on its round surface by confronting the audience with a world that is perceived as being spherical, while guiding them toward a world of “seeing” that approaches the truth.
