Gyeonggi Ceramics Biennale 2026

Kiyoul Cha sees landscape not as a finished scene, but as a place where traces of time accumulate. For more than 30 years, he has worked across archaeology, ecology, and sculpture to explore the relationship between humans and nature. For Cha, archaeology is not limited to uncovering the past. It is also a way of reading the changes visible on the surface and the unseen passage of time.

His installation Archaeological Landscape—Mandala of Fire is made from clay collected from tidal flats along Korea’s west coast. As the tides rise and fall, the tidal flats are repeatedly exposed and submerged, accumulating traces of water, wind, living organisms, and human activity. Through repeated firing, Cha translates the moisture, salinity, particles, and sedimentary qualities of the tidal flats into another landscape within the gallery. Fire not only hardens the clay but also reveals colors, textures, and cracks that were hidden within it.

First, take in the mandala structure that shapes the work as a whole. It reflects how things emerge and disappear, accumulate and erode, as part of a continuous flow. Now shift your attention to the individual clay surfaces. You can see the colors and textures revealed by fire, along with cracks that have formed across them. These traces evoke the passage of time in the tidal flats as they continually accumulate, erode, and change.

For Cha, landscape is not a fixed background, but an ongoing process shaped by clay, water, fire, life, and time.