Jung Hyun is an artist who has long explored the themes of existence, time, and memory through sculptural forms composed of discarded materials and the human figure.

His early practice began with anatomically accurate sculptures of the human body. However, over time, his focus shifted from form itself to the materiality of what composes form.

Asphalt, coal tar, rebar, and briquettes—materials once central to industrial civilization but now obsolete—are reborn in his hands as human figures. These are not mere scraps or trash, but remnants of civilization and traces of human desire.

At the 2025 Jeonnam International Sumuk Biennale, Jung Hyun presents not only sculpture but also large-scale ink drawings. For the artist, drawing is the most honest visual language—a direct release of emotion and thought onto the surface.

His works restore dignity to broken matter and wounded forms, turning what has been discarded into a memory of existence.

Jung Hyun quietly poses a question to us:
“What do we discard, and what do we choose to remember?”

Standing before his work, the viewer is gently prompted to reflect on their own life—
and on the civilization we all inhabit.