Wave-Ripple

In the works of furniture by Cho. Yong-won (1964- ) the use of minimalistic forms contribute to the effective intensification of the material beauty of wood. The patterns on the top surfaces of his tables at once vivify the objecthood of the wood used here and lend a contemplative air of the sort that can be felt in the arms of nature. They are, in fact, the visual renditions of the waves of a moonlit river and the ripples on the surface of a lake lit by the setting sun. The common denominator among his oeuvre lies in the appropriation of the proportional beauty detected in traditional Korean furniture on the basis of modern formal visual grammar.