Kim Deok Han Overlaid Series
No.24-20-01, 2024 East asian lacquer on board 60 x 60 x 4.5 cm 23 5/8 x 23 5/8 x 1 7/8 inches
Whitestone Gallery Seoul (70 Sowol-ro, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, South Korea ) is delighted to present “OVERLAID: Layered Time, Forms of Memory”, a solo exhibition by Korean artist Kim Deok Han, on view from October 25 through December 7, 2025.
Following his ongoing engagements at Whitestone’s outposts in Beijing and Taipei, Kim extends his practice into a dialogue between tradition and contemporary experimentation.
Working with the traditional Korean lacquer technique known as ottchil, Kim builds layered compositions that embody time, memory and existence.
Through repeated applications and sanding, his surfaces accumulate strata where past and present converge, each polished or abraded surface becoming a vessel of memory and a meditation on being.
The centerpiece of the exhibition is a monumental installation from his ‘DIVISION Series’, measuring 12 meters in length and 6 meters in height, transforming the second-floor gallery into an immersive spatial experience.
Also on view are sculptural works from the ‘COMPRESSED Series’ and new works from the ‘OVERLAID Series’, as Kim explores the boundary between painting, sculpture and object in his quest for a language where matter and spirit, tradition and contemporaneity coalesce.
Beyond mere material experimentation, Kim’s lacquer works use layering and erasure as metaphors and rituals to reflect memory and the passage of time.
Kim Deok Han Overlaid Series No. 24-20-02, 2024 East Lacquer on Panel 60 x 60 x 4.5 cm 23 5/8 x 23 5/8 x 1 7/8 inches
By anchoring his work in a traditional medium while engaging contemporary inquiry, he positions his practice within the post-Dansaekhwa discourse of Korean abstraction and simultaneously opens pathways to reimagine tradition.
“OVERLAID: Layered Time, Forms of Memory” offers a rare opportunity for viewers to experience time materialised in layered form—where presence, absence and remembrance meet in quiet convergence.
