UniverShell

The growth that occurs in nature is a process in which invisible things are piled up to make it hard and strong. My work captures the process of how pearls and corals form in the blue ocean.
Electroforming, a modern technique designed to replicate or protect the surface of metals like plating, performs the process of pearl formation made up of accumulated particles. Electrolyzed metal particles in a blue sulfuric acid solution repeatedly accumulate, thereby form a new shell. Running on electricity but very analogue, electroforming requires time and craftsmanship as if taking care of life.
I soak each new life born in my hands in a solution and take care of them carefully until their layer is fully grown and becomes a solid shell. The layer is no longer used for plating or duplicating something else but turns into a concrete form that breathes by itself. The rich and mysterious layers of color, which make it more solid, not only please our visual and tactile sensation but also make it exuberant.