YOUNG HEE LEE
ARTIST NOTE
The Reality of Life Projected onto Paths and Light
Human life exists within time. Each distinct life gives rise to individuality, and that individuality becomes the source of creativity. During the long winter, we feel the cold wind and wait for warm spring, only to find ourselves later longing for cool autumn amid the sweltering summer. In other words, time passes as we endure and wait. The difficult and arduous journey of human life persists through these daily moments. I paint while contemplating the value of each day within this flow of time. This is the reality of life.
In witnessing the resilience of those who persevere without losing hope despite hardships, I came to recognize the preciousness of life. I began to depict dirt paths and hills, seeing human life itself as a road, while the yearning within the human heart took form as hope in the boundless sky.
This is why, even after years of painting realistic forms, I have never grown weary of it. Time, after all, holds the true essence of humanity—it is the enduring force that shapes history. And within that, my life and art exist. The objects that appear in my works—cross-sections of trees, stones and their reflections in water, and the shifting interplay of light—are all metaphors for the facets of human existence. These are not realist landscapes but symbolic representations that contrast the realities of life.
When I portray the cross-sections of trees, I often paint paths atop them—paths that could be the grain of vertically cut wood or the roads we walk in life. Sometimes, standing before a lone tree left behind after harvest, I feel as though I am gazing upon the long road of my own life. That path may stretch endlessly into the distance, leading toward an unknown world—perhaps the road of my future. At its end, I have always sensed something luminous, free of fear, waiting. That anticipation could manifest as a hopeful "light." It was my hope, my artistic motif. Though vague, this waiting for the future was hope itself. Even the lonely or sorrowful farmers and travelers in my paintings are figures carrying hope. This artistic individuality will persist, as it always has, because waiting is the hope of all people.
Life brings more disappointments than triumphs, more suffering than ease. Regret often outweighs satisfaction, and despair comes more readily than confidence. As I paint, I reflect on the past, anticipate the future, and trace the light that carries history—examining myself and envisioning what lies ahead.
The paths in my paintings are not mere country roads. They are the roads we walk from birth until death, holding the countless mysteries of history and the triumphs and sorrows of human existence. I sought to depict these roads with various forms—steep hills climbed with effort, as if each day of life begins anew. Everyone walking these paths carries something for their future, whether real or illusory. These forms, sometimes cold with the night’s yin energy, then warmed by the morning’s yang energy, emerge from the mist where dawn meets the human spirit. I paint from that moment until the time when darkness never fully sleeps.
In my work, objects and colors—especially the infinite expanse of paths and sky—contain my thoughts. Unbound by genre or -ism, all elements of nature are subjects I embrace in my art. What matters is capturing the infinite changes and meanings of time and light within them.
In terms of expression, I emphasize inherent meaning over visual realism. Simplifying forms, I avoid the descriptive nature of realistic landscapes, instead conveying the metaphorical essence of paths and nature.
SELECTED WORKS
ARTIST BIO
LEE YOUNG HEE
Education
BFA in Painting, College of Arts, Chung-Ang University
MFA in Art Education, Graduate School of Education, Konkuk University
Solo Exhibitions
2019 KAFA Art Fair (KINTEX Exhibition Center, Ilsan)
2019 Insa Art Plaza Invitational Exhibition
2018 Dongsung Gallery Invitational Exhibition (Hangaram Art Museum, Seoul Arts Center)
2014 Yang Gallery, Beijing 798 Art District
2010 Nowon Art Gallery, Nowon Culture & Arts Center
2008 Noam Gallery, Dongi Gallery, Beijing Guanyintang Yeonwoo Gallery
2007 EBS Space (Educational Broadcasting System)
2005 Figurative Art Exhibition – Seoul Arts Center
2004 Ilsan Lake Gallery (Lotte Department Store Exhibition Hall)
2003 Gallery Sang
2001 Hyundai Art Museum (Hyundai Heavy Industries, Ulsan)
1998–2000 Gallery Savina
1995 Chosun Baeksong Gallery
1990 Hyundai Museum of Art
Group Exhibitions
2020 True to Its Name (Insa Art Plaza)
2018 Korean Artists’ Exhibition (Triumph Gallery, Moscow Museum of Modern Art)
2014–18 Le Salon des Artistes Français (Grand Palais, Paris)
2017 Goyang Art Fair (Goyang International Flower Festival)
2017–18 Gyeonggi Northern Harmony Exhibition (Uijeongbu Arts Center)
2012 Korea-Taiwan Contemporary Art Exchange Exhibition
2009 22nd Tunis International Festival of Plastic Arts, Mareth
2009 Vision of Contemporary Art (Sejong Center for the Performing Arts)
2009 International Invitational Artists’ Exhibition – 10th Shin Saimdang Art Prize (Gangneung Art Museum)
2009 China-Korea Contemporary Art Exhibition
2009 Shanghai International Art Festival – Korean Contemporary Art Today
2008 Beijing Olympic Invitational Exhibition (Da Shanzi Art Center)
2008 Seoul Art Exhibition – Trends in Korean Contemporary Figurative Painting (Seoul Museum of Art)
2005 11th India Triennale (New Delhi)
2005 Korean Figurative Art Invitational (Seoul Arts Center)
2002–09 Salon des Beaux-Arts International Painting Exhibition (Seoul Gallery, Yokohama Civic Gallery, etc.)
2002–08 New Art Society Exhibition (Seoul Gallery, Gwangju Museum of Art, etc.)
2001 Gallery Savina & Artists (Gallery Savina)
1998–99 Hwarang Art Festival (Seoul Arts Center, Gallery Savina)
1999 Road Exhibition – The Path of Korea (Seoul Arts Center)
1998 Landscape of Water (Gallery Sang, Gallery Savina)
Collections
Industrial Bank of Korea, Korea Federation of Small and Medium Businesses, Goyang District Court, Savina Museum of Art, Hyundai Heavy Industries (Ulsan), National Assembly of Korea, Haitai Crown Confectionery, National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA), Dongi Gallery, China Radio International, Yeoju Museum of Art, private collectors
Awards
2018 Bronze Medal, Le Salon des Artistes Français
1978 Special Prize, Korean Art Association Exhibition
1975 The 12th Mokwoohoe Exhibition Competition - Awarded the Minister of Culture and Public Information Prize
YOUNG HEE LEE
ARTIST NOTE
The Reality of Life Projected onto Paths and Light
Human life exists within time. Each distinct life gives rise to individuality, and that individuality becomes the source of creativity. During the long winter, we feel the cold wind and wait for warm spring, only to find ourselves later longing for cool autumn amid the sweltering summer. In other words, time passes as we endure and wait. The difficult and arduous journey of human life persists through these daily moments. I paint while contemplating the value of each day within this flow of time. This is the reality of life.
In witnessing the resilience of those who persevere without losing hope despite hardships, I came to recognize the preciousness of life. I began to depict dirt paths and hills, seeing human life itself as a road, while the yearning within the human heart took form as hope in the boundless sky.
This is why, even after years of painting realistic forms, I have never grown weary of it. Time, after all, holds the true essence of humanity—it is the enduring force that shapes history. And within that, my life and art exist. The objects that appear in my works—cross-sections of trees, stones and their reflections in water, and the shifting interplay of light—are all metaphors for the facets of human existence. These are not realist landscapes but symbolic representations that contrast the realities of life.
When I portray the cross-sections of trees, I often paint paths atop them—paths that could be the grain of vertically cut wood or the roads we walk in life. Sometimes, standing before a lone tree left behind after harvest, I feel as though I am gazing upon the long road of my own life. That path may stretch endlessly into the distance, leading toward an unknown world—perhaps the road of my future. At its end, I have always sensed something luminous, free of fear, waiting. That anticipation could manifest as a hopeful "light." It was my hope, my artistic motif. Though vague, this waiting for the future was hope itself. Even the lonely or sorrowful farmers and travelers in my paintings are figures carrying hope. This artistic individuality will persist, as it always has, because waiting is the hope of all people.
Life brings more disappointments than triumphs, more suffering than ease. Regret often outweighs satisfaction, and despair comes more readily than confidence. As I paint, I reflect on the past, anticipate the future, and trace the light that carries history—examining myself and envisioning what lies ahead.
The paths in my paintings are not mere country roads. They are the roads we walk from birth until death, holding the countless mysteries of history and the triumphs and sorrows of human existence. I sought to depict these roads with various forms—steep hills climbed with effort, as if each day of life begins anew. Everyone walking these paths carries something for their future, whether real or illusory. These forms, sometimes cold with the night’s yin energy, then warmed by the morning’s yang energy, emerge from the mist where dawn meets the human spirit. I paint from that moment until the time when darkness never fully sleeps.
In my work, objects and colors—especially the infinite expanse of paths and sky—contain my thoughts. Unbound by genre or -ism, all elements of nature are subjects I embrace in my art. What matters is capturing the infinite changes and meanings of time and light within them.
In terms of expression, I emphasize inherent meaning over visual realism. Simplifying forms, I avoid the descriptive nature of realistic landscapes, instead conveying the metaphorical essence of paths and nature.
SELECTED WORKS
ARTIST BIO
LEE YOUNG HEE
Education
BFA in Painting, College of Arts, Chung-Ang University
MFA in Art Education, Graduate School of Education, Konkuk University
Solo Exhibitions
2019 KAFA Art Fair (KINTEX Exhibition Center, Ilsan)
2019 Insa Art Plaza Invitational Exhibition
2018 Dongsung Gallery Invitational Exhibition (Hangaram Art Museum, Seoul Arts Center)
2014 Yang Gallery, Beijing 798 Art District
2010 Nowon Art Gallery, Nowon Culture & Arts Center
2008 Noam Gallery, Dongi Gallery, Beijing Guanyintang Yeonwoo Gallery
2007 EBS Space (Educational Broadcasting System)
2005 Figurative Art Exhibition – Seoul Arts Center
2004 Ilsan Lake Gallery (Lotte Department Store Exhibition Hall)
2003 Gallery Sang
2001 Hyundai Art Museum (Hyundai Heavy Industries, Ulsan)
1998–2000 Gallery Savina
1995 Chosun Baeksong Gallery
1990 Hyundai Museum of Art
Group Exhibitions
2020 True to Its Name (Insa Art Plaza)
2018 Korean Artists’ Exhibition (Triumph Gallery, Moscow Museum of Modern Art)
2014–18 Le Salon des Artistes Français (Grand Palais, Paris)
2017 Goyang Art Fair (Goyang International Flower Festival)
2017–18 Gyeonggi Northern Harmony Exhibition (Uijeongbu Arts Center)
2012 Korea-Taiwan Contemporary Art Exchange Exhibition
2009 22nd Tunis International Festival of Plastic Arts, Mareth
2009 Vision of Contemporary Art (Sejong Center for the Performing Arts)
2009 International Invitational Artists’ Exhibition – 10th Shin Saimdang Art Prize (Gangneung Art Museum)
2009 China-Korea Contemporary Art Exhibition
2009 Shanghai International Art Festival – Korean Contemporary Art Today
2008 Beijing Olympic Invitational Exhibition (Da Shanzi Art Center)
2008 Seoul Art Exhibition – Trends in Korean Contemporary Figurative Painting (Seoul Museum of Art)
2005 11th India Triennale (New Delhi)
2005 Korean Figurative Art Invitational (Seoul Arts Center)
2002–09 Salon des Beaux-Arts International Painting Exhibition (Seoul Gallery, Yokohama Civic Gallery, etc.)
2002–08 New Art Society Exhibition (Seoul Gallery, Gwangju Museum of Art, etc.)
2001 Gallery Savina & Artists (Gallery Savina)
1998–99 Hwarang Art Festival (Seoul Arts Center, Gallery Savina)
1999 Road Exhibition – The Path of Korea (Seoul Arts Center)
1998 Landscape of Water (Gallery Sang, Gallery Savina)
Collections
Industrial Bank of Korea, Korea Federation of Small and Medium Businesses, Goyang District Court, Savina Museum of Art, Hyundai Heavy Industries (Ulsan), National Assembly of Korea, Haitai Crown Confectionery, National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA), Dongi Gallery, China Radio International, Yeoju Museum of Art, private collectors
Awards
2018 Bronze Medal, Le Salon des Artistes Français
1978 Special Prize, Korean Art Association Exhibition
1975 The 12th Mokwoohoe Exhibition Competition - Awarded the Minister of Culture and Public Information Prize