I imagine each piece I make is on its own journey, just like everything in Nature transforms in lineage of time & space. I decenter myself and find peace accepting I am a tiny part of a larger cycle. It allows me to cope with turbulences and disappointments in life. I observe resilience and balance in precarious journeys of all existence in nature, while all suffers from volubility & randomness of existence. I construct forms using strips of clay catching the right time & dryness. The current body of works represents slow incubation of inner strength, cautious hope and resilience with optimism in life. The empty but charged space using linear elements articulates the hidden energy in nature which transforms & pushes everything through its journey. The assembly of linear units in my forms is a metaphor of paradoxical adaptability in time and space. I was born & raised in South Korea and moved to the US as an adult. I struggled with the chauvinistic culture I was born in and my experience as a female immigrant seeking for an open world greatly influenced my works. My sculptures are embedded with meditations on searching for the purpose of existence.
Jongeun Gina Lee