Spotlight: South Korean Artist Lee Hyun-Joung Conjures Nature and Her Own Past With Ink and Paper Creations

Hyun Joung Lee, 2021. Courtesy of Galerie Sept.

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About the Artist: South Korean artist Hyun Joung Lee’s mixed-media practice draws on deeply personal childhood memories. The artist works with traditional Korean materials which she innovates in new and exciting ways, mixing together Korean black ink, traditional pigments, and handmade hanji paper. She trained as a goldsmith in Paris and some of her works are embellished with gold and jewelry. The artist is represented by Galerie Sept in Brussels and will be included in the gallery’s inaugural exhibition at a new space in the Belgian seaside city of Knokke this spring.

Why We Like It: Hyun Joung Lee’s work calls to mind moments in nature. Though abstracted, her artworks suggest mountain ranges or the sensation of a gust of wind. She started her most recent series, “Memoire du vent,” during the pandemic. These works capture the sensation of memories entering the mind, as though through the breeze. Her process is a deeply contemplative one: painting in ink on hanji paper is a time-consuming process and it takes the artist weeks to create each work.

According to the Gallery: “Just as a scent can bring back memories of a certain moment, so Lee’s paintings, which she calls paths, can awaken the history buried in each of us, and involve us in a personal and spiritual journey. Each line can be seen as a day, or an instant we have already lived through or that we are still living in. The way we are perceiving Lee’s paintings depends on our own inner world and imagination. Therefore, one can look at them without getting tired of looking.”