In his series Infinite Spheres, Korean artist Han-ChulShin (b. 1958) works to approximate the infinite in various amalgamations of colored stainless-steel spheres, arranged in a molecular structure. Inspired by the sphere as a symbol of wholeness, Shin’s spheres not only contain a wholeness within themselves—he calls them “organisms that contain both yin and yang”—but also, through their metallic luster, reach out to commune with their environment. The mirrored surfaces of each collection’s individual atomic pieces reflect surrounding light, causing reality itself to bounce and ricochet between them in impossibly intricate streams, generating an alternative vision of their immediate environment in the process. The sculptures then serve as engines for a proliferation of possible worlds, modeling the growth of the molecules from which they are shaped.

The synthesis engendered by the spheres’ reflective properties is indicative of a playful cooperation with the laws of nature. Just as each sphere utilizes light’s reflective property so as to betray it, Shin’s “dream-clusters” also possess the paradoxical appearance of weightlessness. Shin’s mastery lies in the sculptures’ ability to be strung up or balanced subtly so that their constitutive pieces of heavy metal are transformed into soap bubbles or balloons.

Shin’s works are pieces of pure abstraction, working not figuratively to model the phenomenal world, but rather in service of affecting it; they alter their surroundings while also serving as a literal looking glass through which another world is possible.