Current Exhibition

Lee Hyun Joung (b.1972- Korea)
Poetic Memory, 2025
Ink, pigment on handmade Korean mulberry paper
146 x 94 cm

Lee Hyun Joung invites viewers into a poetic realm where Korean ink on traditional mulberry paper, known as hanji, becomes a profound medium to explore nature, spirituality, and memory. Her delicate compositions expand the expressive possibilities of this material, creating works that evoke both personal reflection and shared cultural resonance.

In her painting Great Paths, Lee transcends mere visual aesthetics, unfolding layers of meaning that rekindle dormant historical narratives. Through this work, she offers an intimate and spiritually evocative journey that bridges personal reflection with collective heritage.

Lee meticulously creates each sheet of hanji by hand. The meditative process of extracting fibers from the inner bark of the mulberry tree and transforming them into paper is not merely preparatory but foundational to her art. As she separates and layers the fibers, forms emerge in her consciousness, allowing the material to guide the genesis of each work.

Central to her approach is the decision to preserve hanji’s natural relief rather than compressing it. Upon this living surface, she inscribes intricate lines that accentuate and intersect with the paper’s organic architecture, imbuing her works with a dreamlike, almost otherworldly quality. Her compositions evoke the contours of mountains, the rise of geological formations, and the tactile memory of landscapes shaped over time.

Drawn in rhythm with her body, Lee’s lines swell and recede like breath, resembling musical staves or tidal ripples left by the sea’s retreat. For Lee, these forms represent life’s cyclical journey-less a fixed state than a perpetual passage. At once universal and deeply personal, they embody her own narrative while resonating with the shared experience of all who encounter them.

As Lee reflects: “The meandering and fluctuating lines in my work abstractly echo the infinite irregularities of nature. Each stroke embodies the essence of landscapes-mountains, deserts, fertile plains, or seas-mirroring the ebb and flow of life itself.”