Held In Between

During the Japanese colonisation of Korea, Sugyeong Lee’s great-grandfather built a tank-gul — an underground tunnel — not for military purposes, but as an instinctive space for recovery and mutual support. It reflects an enduring human impulse to create spaces of care and solidarity across time. Today, however, South Korea faces a ‘touch crisis’, a term coined by the designer, where people often suppress emotional expression and physical intimacy.

‘Held in Between’ is a spatial installation that invites touch, embrace, and the release of bodily tension through physical connection. The objects branch out like the roots that once supported the original tunnel, evoking a forgotten image of collective effort and interdependence.

Made from locally sourced Dutch wool, the work offers sensory intimacy and a sense of place. It also reflects Lee’s process of emotional recovery through experiences of warmth and contact encountered in the Netherlands.