Yunhee Lee

Yunhee Lee South Korea, 1973 Yunhee Lee is a contemporary South Korean artist whose work has gained worldwide fame. Yunhee holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Ceramics and Glass and a Master of Fine Arts degree in Ceramics from Seoul Hongik University. The artist has participated in numerous exhibitions in Korea and abroad, and is a resident of the Clay Arch Gimhae Museum as part of a project to support young talented artists. In 2013, she was among the top twenty contemporary artists at the Gyeonggi International Ceramics Biennale, which was attended by artists from China, the United States, Germany, France and Spain. Yunhee Lee's ceramic art objects are a combination of modern practices and the classical sculptural genre, with references to numerous Renaissance works. Her planar sculptures resemble the famous medallions of Andrea della Robbia, and the combination of white and gold, natural shades and a strong humanistic principle demonstrate the artist's commitment to the classical school. This is also indicated by the titles that Yunhee Lee chooses for his series. "The Night of the Fianna" and the "Divine Comedy" presented at the ASKERI GALLERY draw inspiration from literature and painting of a bygone era. Analyzing these historical values from the point of view of a modern layman, but without changing their essence, the artist creates new narratives based on classical images and characters, as if reacquainting the viewer with a rich cultural base. Yunhee Lee speaks the language of metaphors and allusions. Her images reflect contrasts, without which the human soul would not have its deepest power. These are love and hate, life and death, sin and remorse, despair and joy. Many of these feelings are reflected in the symbolism of the works: for example, flowers represent cyclicity, teeth represent loss, birds represent liberation from shackles and prejudice, grapes represent abundance. Playing with these symbols within the framework of classical plots, Yunhee does not fundamentally abandon their archetypal meaning, giving the viewer the opportunity to intuitively comprehend and unravel the meaning of each art object.