With their works, they explore the deep, layered connections between human activities and the landscapes they alter. Each artist delves into the intricate relationships between exploitation, transformation, and the narratives embedded within material and place.

Julie Hyunkyung Cheon’s work investigates the overlooked stories of our oceans. In her project, Blue Emptiness, she documents a year-long research journey tracing the currents of the North Sea and East Sea. Through her wall installation andthe Rust Series, Cheon presents a collection of drifted objects and iron-rich stones, revealing the hidden histories and environmental crises embedded within the oceanic landscape. Her work challenges us to reimagine the sea not as a resource to exploit, but as a living entity with its own temporalities and ecosystems.

Herman Hondebrink’s installation, The Other Side of the Coin, confronts the exploitative mining practices fueling the “green” energy transition. Through the electrochemical transformation of Dutch Guilders, Hondebrink highlights the environmental and social costs of nickel extraction in Indonesia. His work bridges personal and geopolitical histories, emphasising not only the destructive legacies that global industries leave behind but also how his family history is intertwined with these exploitative practices

Nesie Junyi Wang’s project, Rocks, roots, unearth, explores the paradoxical relationship between miners and their environment at the Dexing Copper Mine in China. Through photography, film, and copper etchings made from tailing sands, Wang captures the tension between degradation and renewal as miners cultivate small gardens amidst polluted lands, reflecting their struggle between economic reliance and environmental disruption to the land.