'Expressive, Full of Energy'

Painter Lee draws inspiration for her art from every-day life experiences for visual expression

My paintings are the end result of my own thoughts, ideas and creative inspiration, which I transfer to paper or canvas through the painting process,"painter Lee said commenting on her paintings. "The style and techniques I utilize in translating my feelings to images have grown from within myself as a result of my emotional response to my work and my life's experiences.' Over the years, her visual expressions of emotion have earned her many aficionados, who have swamped her with requests for paintings. The waiting list for one of Lee's works is quite long and continues to grow. In addition to exhibiting in the U.S., her works have been exhibited in South Korea, China, Germany, and Poland. More than 70 private and corporate art collectors now own pieces of Lee's artwork.
Her main objective isn't to create decor for peoples'homes and offices, however. "While I'm pleased when people find something beautiful in my work that they can relate to, my purpose is not to decorate but rather to visually express my feelings,
"she said.
Lee said she likens her affection for channeling her emotions through the medium of paint to the way a poet writes from his or her heart. Her method is much more visual, but nonetheless expressive and full of energy.
"The source of inspiration for my work comes from the essence of the objects and events that I observe about me,"she said. "I perceive this essence as a dynamic energy, changing and flowing as life moves from one stage to another." She added that her paintings were not representations of tangible objects, but of the emotions she feels from the events of her own life. Her personal experiences and the environment she is in at any one point in time affect these emotions in different ways. "As the energy of the event or environment changes, my perception of it changes also,"she said. "The corresponding alteration of my emotional state determines what colors, shapes, markings and materials I use to convey my feelings as the energy passes through my consciousness."
The styles and techniques Lee uses have grown from within her, she added. They are the result of her emotional responses to her previous works and life experiences. When someone finds a personal connection to what she is trying to express, however, she gets even more pleasure from her work. "I become a filter, distilling the essence of the energy and transferring it to the painting surface,"she said.
As one might expect from an artist, each new painting becomes her favorite, she said. One particular theme that has been a personal favorite, however, is her "Earth Song"series, one of which is on display in the main concourse of the Sioux Falls International Airport.
"The Herald,"as it is named, is among her favorite paintings, Lee said. Another piece from the series that she likes a lot is titled "Moon Dance." "The idea behind the theme also motivates me,"she added.
Another of her favorite themes is the "Rites of Passage"series. While it is also an expression of her emotions, it could also be used to illustrate her own personal artistic experiences. "Day to day, we experience life. We grow and pass on to new levels of consciousness,"she said. "From childhood to adulthood, we mark our significant experiences as moments that we observe by performing ritual ceremonies." These ceremonies include birthdays, weddings, graduations and the like, she added. "As I experience the changes in my own life, I observe my own significant moments in my paintings. This way, each individual piece or work becomes my own Rite of Passage." Painter Lee is assistant professor of art at the University of South Dakota of Fine Arts. She earned the master degree in fine arts in painting at the same university.
She held many solo exhibitions both in the United States and Korea with the most recent one being at Masan Art Center in Masan, Korea this year. She also held a solo display of her paintings at Washington Pavilion Visual Arts Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota in the United States. In 1999, her solo exhibition took place at Solaris Gallery in New York and Barucci Gallery in St. Louis and Gallery 400 in Chicago. She brought her paintings to Praxis Galerie, Wuppertal, Dusseldorf, Germany in 1998. and Metro Gallery in Fort Lauderdale, Florida in the same year.
She held 18 solo exhibitions of her artwork from 1992 to this year.. Her paintings were displayed in 18 group exhibitions with the moist recent one being at the Korea International Art Fair in Seoul in May. She also participated in Cologne Art Fair in Cologne, Germany. Last year her art pieces were exhibited at the Beijing Art Fair in Beijing, China.
Her prizes and recognitions include 23nd place at Painting Art & Apples Art Fair in Rochester, New York last year. She won the first place at Painting, Buffalo Grove Art Festival in Buffalo Grove, Illinois. nw

Identity - A True Original; 250x 143 cm; Acrylic on Canvas; 2006

Painter Lee Mi-young

Identity - Inverse; 200x 116 cm; Acrylic on Canvas; 2006