Su Young Lee | The Work
Statement
The skin is a vital element of the human body providing first critical line of protection from the outside elements. Also, without the skin, it is difficult for our physical and emotional being to interact with the outside world. The skin serves as the sole interface through which we experience our greatest sense—touch. Su Young, Lee has traveled to the fashion centers of various countries in search of creative and unique stocking patterns, which she has used as her primary medium and language of expression of her work. With diverse artwork experience in textile, fashion, painting and sculpture, Su Young, Lee has been developing her unique art form centered around stockings as the primary ingredient with supporting materials such as plastic, acrylics, lights, and canvas. Her artistic expression is bold yet sensitive and reflects philosophical existence and cultural reality. Her work often consists of small pieces that she reorganizes into a new creation exhibiting romantic and ambitious patterns. She begins by creating canvases made of stockings whose sheer and elastic characteristics provide their dynamic form allowing them to stretch and change. Then she introduces various materials of different texture and colour by weaving, stitching, and tying them to form her new unique creation.
Her art work—patterned collection of these stocking canvas creations displayed in a simple row, a heart shape, and other formations—seem to express in one setting a multitude of emotions offered by young women from various nations. Her colour selection based often on subtle shades of red and pink promotes sweet, lively, and romantic sentiments. Such sentiments seem to reflect the purity, despair, fear, sensitivity, love, and life of young women and their multitude of emotions—from the heavenly discovery of love found to the darkest despair of love lost. According to Diane Ackerman, sensation selects a fortuitous example and grants universality to a simple sample. Sensation negotiates and meticulously organizes to achieve an acceptable definition. She explains that consciousness does not reside in a brain but resides in every place (1). The special sensitivity of the object discovered and created by Su Young, Lee seems to produce thousands of sensations as proliferated throughout the capillary vessel.
Modern young artists living in today’s information age and exposed to an unprecedented cultural, social, and geo-political diversity and knowledge fail to find much hope in the future of the world. Perhaps, such might be the result of wars, natural disasters, environmental concerns and the socio-economic injustice that are much too evident in our daily information over-loaded lives. In the midst of such an age, Su Young, Lee is an artist who seeks to share with this troubled world a scent of hope and love through her art work.
(1) Diane Ackerman, Open Sense P.13, InFolio, Seoul
CV
Education
2010 NOTTINGHAM TRENT UNIVERSITY, Nottingham, UK, MA Textile Design and Innovation, specialised in fashion knitwear
2007 JEAN-PIERRE FLEURIMONT, Paris, France, Professional make up training
2005 THE ART STUDENT LEAGUE, New York, USA
2004 COLLEGE OF ART AND DESIGN, Kyungwon University, Kyunggido, Korea, Masters in Fine Arts - degree in Fiber Arts & Textile Design, Thesis: a study on images of outer skins in the context of Fiber Arts
2001 COLLEGE OF ART AND DESIGN, Fiber Art Department , Kyungwon University, Kyunggido, Korea, Awarded Bachelor in Fiber Arts degree
1997 SCHOOL OF FINE ARTS, Visual Arts Studies, Aix-en-Provence, France
1996 SEOUL ART HIGH SCHOOL, Fine Arts, Seoul, Korea
Solo Exhibitions
2010 HOPKINSON’S GALLERY, Nottingham, UK
2007 GALERIE GAIA, Seoul, Korea
2006 THE SPACE GALLERY, Seoul, Korea
2004 JONGRO GALLERY, Seoul, Korea
STAR TOWER GALLERY, Seoul, Korea
KYUNGWON UNIVERSITY, Kyunggido, Korea
Group Exhibitions
2010
ART MELBOURNE 2010, Carlton, Australia Royal Exhibition Building
NMC GALLERY, Seoul, Korea« Cure and Creation Fiber Ar »
HEALTHCARE AND BIOSCIENCE iHUB AT BIOCITY, Nottingham, UK, 3M Healthcare and Bioscience inet art 2010
JAY GALLERY, Seoul, Korea, INSA Traditional Culture Association Corp Culture Festival
GALERIE GAIA, Seoul, Korea, Greetings by 30 young artists
2009
SURFACE GALLERY, Nottingham, UK, The postcard show
KIMI ART GALLERY, Seoul Korea, Kimi’s salmon project
GALERIE GAIA, Seoul, Korea, 2009 Hot issue,
GALERIE GAIA, Seoul, Korea, Happy New Year Exhibition by Emerging Artists
2008
GALERIE KIMI ART, Seoul, Korea, Public Exhibition on Lighting Arts, titled "Stimulatives"
GALERIE JANDARY, Seoul, Korea, Illuminative Decoration Exhibition
GALERIE BECOMING ART, Seoul, Korea, Future of Fiber Arts Exhibition
2007
GALERIE ETIENNE DE CAUSANS, Paris, France, Invited for group exhibition
YOHIMBE BAR, Seoul, Korea, Different Color Same Sound
GALERIE GAIA, Seoul, Korea, The gift of Christmas
SEONG BO GALLERY, Seoul, Korea, Fiber Art Exhibition
2006
FLANDERS EXPO, Gent, Belgium, Belgium Art Fair
GALERIE GAIA, Seoul, Korea, Again in New York
HYUNDAI DEPARTMENT, Seoul, Korea, Who’s Who
GAIA’s SPECIAL EXHIBITION SERIES, “Better Together”
K-ART, Kyunggido, Korea, 18th Fiber Art Group Exhibition
INSA ART PLAZA GALLERY, Seoul, Korea, The 4th Seoul Art High School Alumni Exhibition
GALERIE GAIA, Seoul, Korea, Happy Christmas
2005
GALERIE ETIENNES DE CAUSANS, paris, France), “Panorama” Exposition collective avec les artistes coréens et français
THINKTHINK MUSEUM, Seoul, Korea, Disguised Workshop
SEJONG CENTRE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS, Seoul, Korea, The Third Seoul Art High School Alumni Exhibition
GALLERY HUE , Story of ninety Christmas Invitation , Seoul, Korea
GALERIE GAIA, Seoul, Korea, 17th Fiber Art Group Exhibition
2004
POSCO ART MUSEUM, Seoul, Korea, Extrart : Graphic 2004
CHELSEA CENTER FOR THE ARTS, New York, USA, Zc Special Presentation Series I “SEOUL-CHELSEA”
SUNGBO GALLERY, Seoul, Korea, Life Style & Space Styling
GALERIE GAIA, Seoul, Korea, The 2004 Korean Young Artists Exhibition “Variety&Identity”
GALERIE PARIS BEAUBOURG, Paris, France, Korea Contemporary Art Exhibition in Paris
GWANGJU METRO LINE 1, SangMoo Station, Jeollado, Korea), 2004 Gwangju Biennale Echo Metro Project
ANSAN DANWON MUSEUM, Kyunggido, Korea, Invited Exhibition of Korean Excellent Art Graduate Students
HONGIK UNIVERSITY, Munheunkwan, Seoul, Korea, The Exhibition for HongIk Graduate School of Art - “Ten different eyesight to View environments”
JONGRO GALLERY, Seoul, Korea, The Exhibition of “Fiber Art in December”
JONGRO GALLERY, Seoul, Korea, 16th Fiber Art Group Exhibition
GALERIE GAIA, Seoul, Korea, Small goods Christmas Invitation
2003
JONGRO GALLERY, Seoul, Korea, The Exhibition of “Fiber Art in August”
JONGRO GALLERY, Seoul, Korea, Invited for “A Property of Matter in Paper”
JONGRO GALLERY, Seoul, Korea, The Exhibition of “The Sound of Breathing”
JONGRO GALLERY, Seoul, Korea, 15th Fiber Art Group Exhibition
2002
JONGRO GALLERY, Seoul, Korea, The Interchange Exhibition Between Korea and Japan _ 1st Relationship
KOREAN COUNCIL, Tokyo, Japan, The Interchange Exhibition Between Korea and Japan
JONGRO GALLERY, Seoul, Korea, 14th Fiber Art Group Exhibition
SEJONG CENTRE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS, Seoul, Korea, HongIk Fiber Plastic Art Exhibition
2001
HANSEO GALLERY, Seoul, Korea, The Exhibition of “The Sound of Breathing”
JONGRO GALLERY, Seoul, Korea, The Interchange Exhibition Between Korea and Japan_Musashino Art University
2000
JONGRO GALLERY, Seoul, Korea, The Exhibition for Graduation
HANSEO GALLERY, Seoul, Korea, The Invited Exhibition of Idee Doll
ALTERNATIVE SPACE LOOP, Seoul, Korea, The Exhibition of Idee Doll
Awards
2009
3M COMPETITION, Bio-city, Nottingham, UK, Finalist
2005
DRESSING CODES COMPETITION, Domus Academy, Milan, Italy, Awarded 3rd price (partial scholarship)
2002
KOREAN GRAND PRIX OF FIBER ARTS, Sejong center for the Performing Arts, Seoul, Korea, 'Special Award' of the jury, Representations
Collections
STOCKMAN GROUP, Tokyo, Japan
LIVING STONE COOPERATION, Gent, Belgium
GALERIE GAIA, Seoul, Korea
JAISON COUTURE, Paris, France