10 Questions with Rebecca Yunjeong Lee

Rebecca Yunjeong Lee is Korean born artist, originally from Seoul, South Korea. In 2018, she graduated in Fine Art, Painting from the Central Saint Martins university in London.

Her work has been exhibited internationally in solo and group exhibitions, in particular in South Korea, the UK and the USA.

www.yunjeonglee.com | @rebeccayjlee

ARTIST STATEMENT

Yunjeong's work is a reflection of the past. Inspired by trauma suffered as a young person, her work is a self-portrait viewed through the lens of traumatic memory and is part of the process of moving forward with her life.
Louise Borgeois, Tracey Emin and Francis Bacon all influenced the works, which were Yunjeong's first foray into using digital applications to create art. Having previously worked in only acrylic, Yunjeong digitally enhanced the pictures so that she was blended into the acrylic paint. The results are compositions which push the boundaries of digital and analogue, experiments in space.

"It may not be an easy concept to grasp but I wish to pass on my emotions and feelings. I hope individuals will think about victims and incidences in the past and make a change for the future."

INTERVIEW

First, tell us a little about your background and studies. How did you start making art? And are you still following the same aspiration? 

I was born in South Korea, Seoul, and I studied Fine Art painting graduating with my BA at Central Saint Martins in 2018. I started art because I had a hard time speaking of my traumas in the past, so I started about when I was 17 and still continue. My aspiration was mainly focused on expressing the anger and pains I had and moving forward by expressing it and being honest about it. I think I still follow the same aspiration, but I am now more focused on being able to communicate with audiences through my paintings. 

What is your aim as an artist?

My aim as an artist is to be able to make artworks that people can feel sympathy for and feel consoled by. I hope I can be able to speak our true emotions and pain through my work while also helping them and myself move forward. 

You work with mixed media paintings and also incorporate digital elements. How does your approach to art change with the different mediums?

The purpose of digital painting for the unspoken series was to emphasize the process of putting (blending) myself into the painting. So I have my acrylic and oil paintings with me at the studio, but at the same time, I became a part of the painting. 
Making art digitally really developed my style. I could try brush strokes that I have never done before; also, the advantage of digital art is that I can fix what I don't like and remove or delete the brush stroke with one click. That helped me so much to push myself further to paint than how I used to. Also, while I paint digitally, I don't need to carry canvas and all the paints with me, so I can paint whenever, wherever I want, and I found it fascinating how convenient it was as an artist. 

In your painting, you use distinctive elements in the composition, colors you choose, and how you portray your characters. How do you characterize your art? And how did you develop this style? 

I painted myself as part of the process of becoming a painting, so I focus on the colours in the background, for example, lighting and shadows. I try to pull out the colours of shadows and exaggerate them and blend the figure with those colours. I left some parts as a photograph itself because these are everyday materials, and I thought of it as probs like being on the stage. So when audiences see it, they will know it's just not a painting with acrylic or oil. 

Your work mainly deals with past traumas. Do you have any other sources of inspiration? 

Apart from trauma or current emotions as inspirations, I get inspired by places, especially home. I find 'home' a very interesting subject because it is the most comfortable, most private space for everyone, and I see it as the boundary between society and their personal space, which is home. 

Your characters are always depicted alone, almost floating in empty spaces. What messages do you want to convey with these choices? 

I depicted myself alone because, in the end, it was my personal story and the idea of the series was 'I wish I could be part of the painting'. But I am sure everyone has their own stories, and there are times when we all feel alone, lonely, and having a hard time, and you want to be in your own personal space. I painted to hope people could see that. 

In your statement, you mention Louise Bourgeois, Tracey Emin, and Francis Bacon as your main references for your painting. How do you translate these influences into your work? 

I can feel, and I can agree with the emotions through their works. Their works are very expressive and talk about their own pains, and trauma, and somehow when I was depressed, their works really helped me to move forward because it made me feel like I am not alone anymore. Someone out there can understand me. So I wanted to be honest when I paint, I want to just express what I feel and not feel afraid to express it or not to fear being vulnerable on canvas.

Let's talk about the public. Do you feel viewers can relate to your art? And what has been their feedback so far? 

My painting subject is pretty heavy, but in most of the exhibitions I had, there were always people that came up to me and said they felt the emotions, and they told me they had similar experiences. Since anyone has been involved in sexual or domestic violence, it is very hard to speak out, and I am glad that some people can feel that they are not alone through my work. It always means a lot to me, and it gives me more reason to make paintings.

Is there any other medium or theme you would like to tackle in the future?

I'd love to try stitching threads on the canvas in the future, I recently practiced a bit, and I am not good at it, but I found it so much fun, and I find the texture can be very interesting with oil paints and acrylic. Also, I want to try oil pastels with oil paintings as well. I haven't really tried other materials apart from paints, so I want to challenge myself to make paintings with other mediums together next time. 

Finally, do you have any upcoming exhibitions or collaborations? Any new project you want to share with us?

I have started two new projects, which are 'anxious paintings' and 'De-constructed Bodies series.'
I started De-constructed bodies series in 2015 actually. But recently, I decided to continue the series. It is about all the different parts of bodies in all different sizes on tiny canvases.
Anxious paintings is a project I am currently working on right now, and it is literally about anxiety about the future as an artist. I tried to express the negative feelings and the stress about what's next on the painting.