Gosari is an artist who builds swallow nests from riverside mud and straw. Just as swallows carry mud in their beaks to build nests under the eaves, the artist shapes the same materials by hand into sculptures and installations. The starting point was a period spent in Gangneung after leaving Seoul, closely observing a family of swallows nesting beneath the eaves of a market. In the merchants who cared for the swallows even in harsh weather, the artist discovered a relationship of care and coexistence that humans and animals have built over a long time.

Gosari graduated from the Department of Western Painting at the University of Ulsan and received a master’s degree in painting from the Graduate School of Hongik University. Beginning in painting, the artist has since expanded into sculpture and installation, working with materials that carry the physical qualities of nature, such as earth, straw, and hanji (Korean paper). Gosari has held solo exhibitions at the Export-Import Bank of Korea’s Gallery SAFE (Seoul), Daechumoo Fine Art (Gangneung), and the Salt Museum (Sinan), and is also participating in group exhibitions at MMCA Seoul and the Taitung Art Museum in Taiwan. The artist received Daechumoo Fine Art’s Emerging Artists of Tomorrow Award in 2023 and completed residencies at the MMCA Goyang Residency (2019) and the Gangneung Artist Residency (2025).

The work begins with setting out to gather materials. At the Namdaecheon Stream in Gangneung, where swallows fetch the makings of their nests, the artist personally collects mud and straw, adding onggi clay to shape palm-sized swallow nests one by one. Circles of hanji are layered onto window glass so that natural light, shifting with the passage of time, becomes part of the work. “When farming, plants and compost become my materials,” the artist says, “and when following the movement of swallows, I gather straw or riverside mud according to their habits.” Because these living materials continually respond and shift with the temperature and humidity of the seasons, the artist takes care not to work against their nature, attending closely to their changes in relation to the installation site and its environment.

Gosari’s practice deepened once more from 2019, when the artist began cultivating a village garden plot and came to witness the lives of soil and plants at close range. The artist describes this experience as “a precious turning point that broadened and deepened the horizons of both life and work.” Stars of the Earth, presented at this year’s fair, extends from that experience: it is composed of plants the artist personally grew and dried over periods of one to three years.

At this year’s Kiaf, Gosari presents Barn Swallow’s Nest and Barn Swallow Seat, shaped from the mud and straw of the Namdaecheon Stream; Barn Swallow’s Galaxy, which traces the swallows’ migration through hanji and natural light; and Earth Star. The works in the booth are arranged to evoke the flow of life in which swallows fly great distances and return once again. The artist hopes that viewers will take time to trace “the quiet resonance left behind in the process of life appearing, lingering, and disappearing.” Walking through the booth, visitors will find themselves reflecting anew on the place of the small lives that stay beside us for a time and then depart.