Stuffed Animals and Found Objects Reconfigure in Sungho Bae’s Uncanny Sculptures

Sungho Bae, a Seoul-born artist now residing in Chicago, creates unsettling sculptures using discarded toys and objects. For the artist, the sentimental value we place on childhood items is turned upside down in his work. Bae collects toys from shops and dumping grounds, deconstructs them, and arranges them atop a figurative armature.

The resulting sculptures are uncanny, made of a vivid, fleshy patchwork that seems to mimic organs, tissue, muscle, and other biological elements. The exhibition Apotropaia, which features a collection of new works, presents these sculptures as charms, amulets, and other magical artifacts meant to ward off evil. The title of the exhibition references ancient Greek beliefs in mystical powers and highlights humanity's long-standing fascination with objects, rituals, and materials imbued with meaning.

One of the more grounded pieces in the exhibition is "Dansu," which resembles a head and cross-cut neck with taxidermy eyes and feathered hair. The work is inspired by a specific move in the Korean game of Go, a game where only one move remains before capture. Placed upon a weathered game board, the figure embodies the duality of natural and artificial, as well as the concepts of spirit and death, staring with empty glass eyes originally meant to replicate life in a mounted animal.

Additional wall pieces titled "Gut" are more abstract, featuring wispy hair, bits of clay, and a blend of colors and textures. These ethereal sculptures encourage viewers to engage with their ambiguity and explore the relationship between the natural and artificial, as well as the concepts of life and death. Apotropaia runs through September 6 at 4th Ward Project Space, and viewers can follow Bae's creative process on Instagram.