Sculptural Poems: Kuo Szumin Solo Exhibition

Since the Renaissance, the development of linear perspective has relied upon geometric order to create the illusion of space, compressing three-dimensional depth onto a two-dimensional surface. Kuo's practice, by contrast, reverses this trajectory. Beginning with the planar surface, she restores spatial relationships from the realm of visual representation to the physical world. She seeks to establish the minimum structural conditions necessary for a form to stand independently. Composed of geometric planes, her sculptures embody a distinctly rational formal language, characterized by lucid lines, precise angles, and restrained structural balance. Rather than treating sculpture as the accumulation of solid mass, Kuo is fundamentally concerned with how space is perceived through the relationships between planes. This approach resonates with a pivotal shift in modern sculpture: sculpture is no longer understood as a self-contained, autonomous object, but as a mode of existence constituted in relation to the surrounding environment. Form no longer merely occupies space; through defining, dividing, and opening it, the void, light, and the viewer's body become integral components of the sculptural experience.

Yet Kuo Szumin's practice does not remain within the modernist pursuit of formal purity and structural completeness. Rather than privileging the closed and autonomous sculptural mass, she is more deeply concerned with how void emerges through the relationships between structural elements, echoing the architectural concept of negative space[1]. Within the contexts of both architecture and sculpture, space is not defined by solid form alone, but is organized through intervals, openings, and the dynamic interplay of enclosure and exposure. These voids, shaped by surrounding forms, may appear absent, yet they are precisely where relationships unfold—allowing vision, movement, and light to enter and participate. Throughout Kuo's work, extensive perforations and deliberate voids dissolve the fixed boundaries of the object. Metal becomes a structural framework that articulates space rather than enclosing mass. Its permeable forms allow the gaze to pass freely through, while light and shadow continuously shift with changes in viewpoint and time, maintaining the work in a state of openness and perpetual transformation. If the metal framework provides the structural skeleton of the work, then what is ultimately constructed is the evolving spatial relationship that unfolds through the act of viewing and moving.

As viewers move through the exhibition, each shift in bodily position alters the trajectory of vision while simultaneously transforming the relationships of illumination and occlusion. In Kuo's sculptures, light is not a static element that merely falls upon the surface. Structurally, it is continually redistributed between solid form and void through movement, converting seemingly stable boundaries into fluid spatial configurations. Shadow and reflection cease to function as secondary optical effects and instead become active agents in defining sculptural form. The production of light is likewise inseparable from the conditions of display. Under natural daylight in the artist's studio, the works change continuously with time, as variations in the direction and intensity of light produce an ever-shifting spatial experience. Once installed within the white cube, however, artificial lighting reconfigures illumination into a carefully controlled condition, fixing perception within specific angles and intensities. This transition between natural and artificial light not only transforms the visibility of the works, but also fundamentally reconstitutes their relationship to space and time.

Beyond space and light, time constitutes another essential dimension through which Kuo Szumin's work is understood. She does not regard her materials as static substances; instead, she places them within the passage of time, allowing them to reveal their material conditions through processes of transformation. Iron and stainless steel carry distinct cultural associations rooted in the histories of architecture and industrial civilization. Their widespread use in urban infrastructure and industrial production accelerated the standardization of construction and the development of modernity, imbuing these materials with enduring connotations of structure, order, and construction. Rather than resisting these temporal processes, Kuo embraces them, allowing the materials to assume their own natural states over time. Some works preserve the original colour and texture of the metal, while others are coated to maintain a more stable surface. Still others are exposed to the natural environment, where iron gradually oxidizes and rusts. In these works, corrosion becomes the most direct inscription of time, transforming the sculpture from a fixed and completed object into one that remains continuously rewritten by temporal processes. This sustained and organic transformation reflects the artist's ongoing inquiry into how time enters and inhabits matter.

As light continually reorganizes spatial relationships, the movement of the body likewise reconfigures structural perception, making viewing itself an embodied experience. Ultimately, Kuo's concern lies not in sculpture as an autonomous object, but in its capacity to become a site where perception takes place. Translating architectural principles of order, structure, and spatial thinking into sculptural language, she further extends their possibilities through the interplay of light, void, and the temporal agency of materials. Her works thus exceed the boundaries of physical form: they are at once objects and spaces, materials and light, structures and time. If these sculptures may be understood as poems, it is perhaps because they resist the impulse to deliver complete meaning. Like a poet, Kuo continually refines and distills, allowing every fold, every inflection, and every deliberate void to exist with necessity and precision. The spaces left unfilled do not signify absence; rather, they remain open for the viewer's presence. Only when the body enters, when light begins to move, and when the gaze passes through the structure does the work gradually come into being through experience. It is precisely within these moments—where meaning remains unfinished—that Sculptural Poems finds its poetic expression.