1988 Bron in Seoul Korea,and currently residing and work in New York.
I want my painting to be experienced like an air: as thought it can be warm or cold, as though it can be smelled, as though it can be remembered, through a lens of false nostalgia or vague recollection but unclear whether this was a lived experience, a fantasy, or a dream.
My work demonstrates the space between a nature and a fantasy. I believe in a human nature of fear of what we do not know or understand. I am fascinated by aesthetics of natural phenomenon and how it is reflected through artificial substitutes, which are the man-made objects that mimics the nature such as fireworks, snow globe and Christmas lights. In these objects, the precious moments in the nature become timeless and privatized. These are the souvenirs of sweet victory of a human, but also the acknowledgement of a human vulnerability. This is my wonder and anxiety that much of contemporary life provokes: a hint of pleasure and envy hidden inside the substitutes. Through a privatized virtual nature.
In the performance of making, I employ different strategies of mark-making to inhabit atmosphere that are static, otherworldly, and yet, still familiar. I collect variety of image sources from the objects, photographs and I often uses images from animation in a metaphorical sense. Then, I deconstruct dimensional perspectives by playing with gestural marks and fragmented source images. These images mostly presented as a floating figure in the background. The figure plays as a catalyst for imagination whether it exist in private or public realms, or in personal or shared experiences.
Sarah Lee