Cho Sung-Hee - Pieter Obels, 'Nature in Form'
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.
SELECTED WORKS
Cho Sung Hee, Olive Green Blossom, 2025
Collage, korean rice paper and oil on canvas
64 x 51.2 x 4.3 cm | 162.5 x 130 x 11 in
Cho Sung Hee, White Globe, 2026
Collage, korean rice paper and oil on canvas
51.2 x 76.4 x 4.3 cm | 130 x 194 x 11 in
Cho Sung Hee, Garden in My Mind F, 2025-2026
Collage, korean rice paper and oil on canvas
28.6 x 23.9 x 3.5 cm | 72.7 x 60.6 x 9 in
Cho Sung Hee, Pink Blossom, 2025
Collage, korean rice paper and oil on canvas
64 x 51.2 x 4.3 cm | 162.5 x 130 x 11 in
Pieter Obels, Enjoy the Silence, 2025
Corten steel
160 x 220 x 130 cm | 62.9 x 86.6 x 51.2 in
Pieter Obels, I See the Way You Move, 2025
Corten steel on wooden base
190 x 87 x 60 cm | 74.8 x 34.3 x 23.6 in
Pieter Obels, Hard to Hide, 2025
Corten steel on wooden base
178 x 60 x 72 cm | 70.1 x 23.6 x 28.3 in