Artist Kyung Lee has been selected as the first participant in Queens College’s “Artist in Residence” program, established with the support of the Thomas Chen Family/Crystal Windows Fund to promote contemporary Asian art. During the fall semester of 2024, Kyung Lee will receive a $15,000 grant and spend four months at Queens College, focusing on her work. She will also share her artistic exploration through discussions with students and public lectures.

Artist Kyung Lee

Kyung Lee’s Artistic Exploration

Lee works in painting, experimental printmaking, and installation art, visually exploring unseen structures and states of incompletion in modern urban spaces. Since 2014, she has been researching themes connected to contemporary society, examining the outer and inner structures of cities and spaces combined with digitized urban imagery.

〈Missing Mass〉, 5’15’’, single channel, 2021. https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/60124634|

Recently, Kyung Lee has been working on "Dark Matter" and the immeasurability of the expanding universe, relating these themes to Buddhist cosmology, ancient religions, and mythology. She visualizes the cyclical concepts of space and time through her paintings, prints, and installations, drawing inspiration from dark matter research to create works that combine abstract ideas from Eastern philosophy and mythical entities.

〈Anti-Matter〉, Mixed Media on Canvas, 60’ x 35”, 2021

2023, 〈Space Lag〉, Graphite on Pink, Seoul, Korea.

In 2023, her exhibition "Space Lag" at Graphite on Pink, Seoul, Korea, featured an integration of painting, printmaking, digital media, and installations in a single space, creating scenes where various media coexist. The exhibition space reflected the artist's exploration of the concept of the 'in-between,' with the artworks connecting the above and below, the known and the unknown worlds. LED panels and other digital devices visually expressed digital glitches, creating effects that disrupted the perception of time and space.

〈Space Lag〉, Installation View at Graphite on Pink, 2023.

Paintings and prints transcended the flat surface to become three-dimensional, while videos flowed through the space, blurring the boundaries between digital and analog, allowing the audience to experience the works from multiple angles.

〈Space Lag〉,그래파이트 온 핑크 전시 전경, 2023.

2024 Kumho Young Artist, 〈Altered Existences in Ouroboros〉, Kumho Museum of Art, Seoul, Korea.

In 2024, at the Kumho Young Artist Exhibition, held at Kumho Museum of Art, Seoul, Kyung Lee exhibited from May 10 to June 16.

Installation View, Kumho Museum of Art, Seoul, South Korea, 2024

Through her work titled "Altered Existences in Ouroboros," she provided an expanded visual experience that transcended the boundaries between the visible and invisible worlds.

〈 Altered Existences in Ouroboros〉, Exhibition View, 2024, ©Kumho Museum of Art

During her participation in the Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF) Residency Program in 2021, she became deeply interested in the hidden worlds beneath our visible reality, such as dark matter. The Sanford Lab, a former gold mine converted into a deep underground research facility, conducts physics experiments at depths of 1.5 km, exploring dark matter and neutrinos.

While driving at the research facility, Kyung Lee experienced a glitch in her navigation system and had a strange, almost cosmic, experience on screen. This incident sparked the question, "What lies beneath my feet?" and provided a significant turning point in her artistic journey.

〈Gu San Pal Hae (九山八海), Nine Mountains Eight Oceans〉, 2023-24, Mixed Media on Canvas, 36 x 72 inches

Kyung Lee’s research into cartography, Buddhist philosophy, and cosmology has intersected with her exploration of the underworld. This investigation culminated in works like “Welcome to Ouroboros World” (2024) and the installation “Ouroboros” (2024).

〈Welcome to Ouroboros World!〉, Wall drawing with Graphite, Dimensions Variable, 2024

The “Ouroboros” is the ancient symbol of a snake eating its own tail, representing cyclical time and infinity in mythology. Kyung Lee uses this symbol to visually explore the cyclical nature of time and space and the invisible world. Her work goes beyond scientific discoveries, reinterpreting humanity’s relationship with the unknown world from an Eastern philosophical perspective.

Combining scientific inquiry and philosophical reflection, Lee visualizes the unseen, linking mythical ancient beings to modern science. She uniquely reinterprets traditional Korean symbols while blending scientific research and philosophical contemplation into artistic expression.

Kyung Lee holds an MFA from the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) and a BA in Western Painting from Seoul National University. She has extensive teaching experience at various universities and has actively participated in exhibitions and residencies in the United States, Europe, and the Middle East. Recently selected as a Kumho Young Artist 2024, Lee continues to expand her artistic world through the fusion of art, science, physics, and astronomy.

(Artist’s Website: http://www.kangleekyung.com)