Year: 2022
Medium: wood, oil paint, epoxy, acrylic paint, urethane plastic, lead, geode, stainless steel frame
Dimensions: 184.2 x 148 x 5.1 cm (72 1/2 x 58 1/4 x 2 in.)
Acquired from Pace Gallery, 2022
The artist's works are as if there is no specific style, and in each presentation, he manipulates a different form and different concept in an ever-changing way. In this work, the view of a waterfall is formed on a hard stainless-steel frame, and the viewers will be overwhelmed by its material peculiarity when examined up close. The paint-like surface is composed of lead, agate and a wide variety of other materials, which are meticulously combined to form the landscape like a sophisticated puzzle. The title which seems to have a profound meaning, is not a cipher. But it can be assumed that WHJ are the initials of William Henry Jackson (1843-1942), a renowned landscape photographer in the American West. The composition of this work aligns precisely in that with one of Henry Jackson's photographs of the waterfall taken in Yellowstone National Park. In some of his works from 2022, Jackson attempted to draw from the masterpieces of past artists. However, as can be seen in this work, instead of tracing the original straightforwardly, the artist seems to just invert what he has inherited from the original work by emphasizing the peculiarity in colors and materials. As what the artist always expresses “Horrible”, one can feel one's whole-body evoking a shiver against the tense expression of this work, which seems to retain the majestic sublimity of magnificent nature that has once fascinated Henry Jackson while encompassing it with heavy lead violently.
