Hyun Joon Lee
My works convey something that we, as humans, know but do not always remember, often focusing on memories and inner emotions. In other words, my works ask viewers to think about their values in life and their dreams. I paint what I have seen and experienced on canvases with vivid and vibrant colours. One of the mediums that I commonly use is toilet paper; I use toilet paper in my paintings because it represents nature since it comes from a tree. Also, toilet paper is very versatile and has unlimited potential for creative expression. It can be fluid when wet, smoke and ash when burned. Or solid when stacked together in thin or thick piles.
When I paint, after I apply the bright colours, I use white toilet paper to paint the canvas white blocking the colours underneath. The toilet paper leaves particles on the canvas that add texture and highlight the parts of the canvas where the colours come through. It represents something beyond memory, an ethereal moment or thought that is powerful, but whose edges aren’t well defined. The process also determines the artwork. Using toilet paper to scrub white over the colour is an analogy for cleaning a surface like a table. Not only does the final result speak to the idea of memory, but the process also underscores the idea that some things always remain, even after you try to remove them, like a stain or powerful experience.
My current project, ‘Fade Out’ is a statement about how everything eventually ends or dies. It is a discussion on the unchangeable fate whose time is unknown. All the things will disappear in this specific detail of the times I have lived before becoming blurred and fading out. If all the traces of me and my life disappear, the existence of my being would also disappear. Our memories are always with us, but we don’t reflect on them. Since we don’t try to remember, they become cloudy.
