The First Gold is Freen is Fernando’s first solo exhibition in Korea. It represents a survey of the last ten years of his research into the consequences that global trade have in rural communities and the ecological devastation created by short term aspirations of capital gains and the forceful application of a western vision of progress.

The name of the exhibition is inspired in a short poem by Robert Frostin in 1923. The poem begins with the verse Nature’s First gold is green, an allegory to the preciousness and fragility of the first leaves appearing after a harsh winter but also a concept that could also be attributed to the commodification of natural resources, a recurrent theme in Laposse’s practice where natural materials are transformed into design objects charged with storytelling. 

Pieces of importance in this exhibition include two cabinets made with avocado skin marquetry, brass and green glass, statement pieces delivering powerful commentaries on the destructive avocado trade. 

The exhibition also includes new pieces of furniture made with Totomoxtle, a veneer created with the leaves of native corn, and agave fibres the result of a longstanding collaboration between Fernando and the community of Tonahuixtla, an indigenous farming town in the south of Mexico where corn biodiversity and soil regeneration are being achieved by the creation of new craft practices applied to design. 

The show is complete by a series of lighting made with loofah, a natural sponge material derived from a gourd like vegetable. The material has been pressed moulded into light diffusers that emit a gentle golden light over support structures crafter with traditional wood joinery.

With this new body of work Fernando invited the audience to join in his curiosity to find value in the most banal and seemingly worthless of materials and to reflect on the importance of seeing nature as a provider of precious wellbeing.