Biography
Stephanie S. Lee took symbolic, symmetrical, and decorative characteristics of Korean folk art and employed traditional mediums such as Korean rice paper, mixed glaze, black ink, and gold dust to paint natural objects. Toiling over time-consuming traditional art techniques to seek philosophical meanings and objectives of her daily lives has been a joyful journey for Lee. Lee hopes that her viewers can search for the precious moments from their daily lives and heal themselves from the fractures and despairs that they might have had to endure by empathizing with Lee’s work.
Lee’s symbolic depiction of personal everyday life expands to metaphysical and philosophical arena inspired by modern physics such as quantum mechanics and parallel theory. Deeply impressed by the idea that what we see around us might just be a visual illusion and that human cognition is limited, Lee believes that the relationship between providence and reincarnation, transiency and eternity are all interconnected. Lee believes that the reason we can coexist in order and harmony is because a transcendental being is watching over us with a warm regard. Lee further believes that human beings need to regard our every day’s little actions with warmth and be grateful for even the most basic and smallest moments in our lives while witnessing each other’s lives and exchanging positive energy as purpose of our living. These sophisticated ideas have been interwoven into Lee’s work profoundly. Seeking happiness in artist’s ordinary everyday life ultimately became a journey to find the objective of ‘living’ for Lee. This realization and exploration will be the perpetuating theme for her work.
