LEE YOUNG IN -LISA LEBEL-​

Through hyperrealist paintings, Lee captures what is seen and what is invisible on canvas. Wood,In particular, artist Lee Young-in, who was exploring pine trees as the theme, finds similarities to humans in the material of stone. Even a stone that is as smooth and round as a perfect one can find as many shapes and changes as humans do. The shape and color of the stone and its precious beauty change and fade over time. Just like humans, stones contain the history of the earth and retain the traces of time within them. Consisting of the purest natural elements, stones hold the earth and make their appearance on the ground. However, stones are not the only materials in Lee's paintings. The existence of important shadows cast by each stone delicately suggests the existence of light

These paintings, which emphasize the margins around them as much as the objects, leave ample room for meditation. It is a moment when you can think deeply about the beauty of a simple object like a stone abandoned in nature when it appears to be in its most aesthetic form.

This emptiness deliberately leaves room for the audience to imagine about this stone.

His meticulous technique perfectly expresses the texture of the stone like a photograph. A closer look at his canvas shows that he was meticulously painted to give the object a natural and vivid image.

Who doesn't spend hours and hours trying to find and cherish the most beautiful stones on the beach, park, or mountain, a play that children especially love to enjoy?

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Since Dobul in 2000, Lee has continued his career as a full-time artist through a painting course at the Montpellier School of Fine Arts. Lee continues his work on the theme of stones, conveying to us the breath of eternal existence through the solidity and continuity of stones that nature has built up for millions of years. In his works, one can vividly feel the traces and whispers left by wind, water, and time. Emphasizing the object, the margins surrounding it, and all, Lee says painting leaves ample room for meditation. In his paintings, we see the beauty of common and ordinary stones that exist in nature as the most aesthetic form. And in his paintings, Lee leaves behind the presence of shadows cast on each stone. Shadows delicately and covertly imply the existence of light.

​Artist Lee Young-in, who works on painting natural stones with hyperrealistic descriptions, discovers new aesthetic values and meanings of stones in nature and captures them on the screen as they are. Formed by the force of nature, stones have been together for the change and history of the earth for a very long time, and each has its own story. They come in various shapes and colors and seem to show the essential beauty that has naturally changed. His hyperrealistic descriptions evoke deep emotion and awe.

Artist Lee Young-in pays attention to the things that make up nature, the things that always seem easy to see around us. The artist coexists with what appears to be hyperrealist painting techniques and what is invisible on the canvas. After working with wood, birch, pine, etc. for many years, the artist has been working with stone materials in recent years. His meticulous technique makes textured stones as perfect as photographs.

After studying wood, especially pine, artist Lee Young-in discovered similarities with humans in a material called stone. For him, painting a stone is like painting a figure. On this stone, which is almost perfectly smooth and round, you can find various shapes and variations just like humans. As time passes, the precious shapes, colors, and beauty transforms and vanishes. Stone, the purest natural element, contains the history of the Earth and preserves the traces of time in itself, just like humans.

Lee Young-in is a member of the Pine Artists Association, and the Pine Artists Association is a representative Korean artist group in Paris that brings together artists working in various formative arts fields such as painting and photography and video installation with the aim of promoting exchanges between Korean art culture and international art culture through art and globalizing cross-border culture through art. He served as the president of the Pine Tree Association (2017-2021), an association of Korean artists, and supported the solidarity and activities of Korean artists in France.

 

-Author's Note-

 

Stone - existence

Rocks hold traces of time. Rocks formed by the force of nature have watched the changes and history of the earth for thousands or millions of years. The stones viewed with this thought evoke deep emotion and awe, and give us a sense of calm and stability.

 

The natural rock also conveys natural beauty to us. It comes in a variety of shapes and colors, and the texture and weight of its surface both represent unique beauty. It gives us a chance to pause in our busy daily lives, appreciate the beauty of nature, and find inner peace.

 

The work contains an attempt to discover and express the aesthetic value and meaning of stones in nature

I tried to find the meaning of nature's existence while making the most of its unique weight, texture, and shape.

 

Everyday objects gain aesthetic value by looking at them from a new perspective, which is part of an effort to change the way people think by presenting a new perspective on everyday things.