Cho Sung-Hee - Pieter Obels, 'Nature in Form'

06 - 29 March 2026

Opera Gallery Miami is pleased to present ‘Nature in Form’, a two-artist exhibition pairing Cho Sung-Hee’s delicate works constructed from hanji paper with Pieter Obels’ gravity-defying Corten steel sculptures. The exhibition explores how two distinct practices translate natural rhythms, balances, and forces into carefully constructed, man-made forms that evoke the quiet intelligence of organic systems.

 

For Cho Sung Hee and Pieter Obels, Nature is not a subject to be depicted but a principle to be understood. Obels’ sculptural works, shaped through an intuitive yet rigorous engagement with material, suggest growth and movement. His sculptures appear to float, their sinuous, ribbon-like structures challenging expectations of weight and mass. Cho, working through an entirely different material language, similarly distills nature into essence—light, breath, and spatial harmony. Through reduction and accumulation, she builds her compositions from meticulously layered, hand-cut elements. Rooted in Korean aesthetics and traditions, as well as her own personal memories tied to her family’s garden, her process treats nature as both subject and material framework.

 

The meticulous craftsmanship evident in both bodies of work bridges the gap between the natural and the constructed, reminding us that human making, at its most attentive, can echo the intelligence of nature itself.

 

‘Nature in Form’ invites visitors to slow down and attune themselves to these resonances. In the encounter between Cho Sung Hee and Pieter Obels, nature is not only referenced but revealed through form and the quiet discipline of craft.

Cho Sung-Hee, "Pink Blossom", 2025, Collage, Korean rice paper and oil on canvas, 162.5 x 130 x 11cm | 64 x 51.2 x 4.3 in; Pieter Obels, "You Might Be the One", 2025, Corten steel on wooden base, 240 x 150 x 120 cm | 94.5 x 59.1 x 47.2 in

SELECTED WORKS