10 Questions with Yubin Lee

Yubin Lee is an illustrator and designer based in NYC, holding a degree in Illustration from the School of Visual Arts with multiple awards and published illustrations. She commenced her professional journey at the Baturu Cultural Festival as an Illustrator and Designer, creating illustrations for film and cultural events that were subsequently published. Following this, she continued her career at Cider, a globally-minded brand, where she applied the skills acquired during her illustration degree and design courses, serving as a 2D Designer.

Expanding her career in the fashion industry, she is currently with the crowd-approved athleisure brand Halara. In her present role, Yubin uses her illustration skills to craft engaging social media content and contributes her design expertise to the development of the brand's identity. With a profound interest in both illustration and design, she seamlessly navigates between these disciplines within the industry. Concurrently, she continues to create illustrations for a variety of projects, including books and covers.

eelnibuyart.com | @eelnibuyart

ARTIST STATEMENT

Yubin Lee loves immersing herself in the world of storytelling. She finds joy in creating narratives that are whimsical, wondrous, dramatic, and eerie. The thrill for her comes from crafting a world filled with characters she loves and environments she adores. Her passion is deeply rooted in films, baroque, and rococo art. Always on the lookout for engaging stories, she channels her excitement into her illustrations.

Her work exudes intrigue, tension, and darkness, yet there is undeniable humour within. This unique blend aims to spark more imagination. Yubin is meticulous in her line work, often incorporating textures and intricate details. She takes pleasure in creating artwork that demands time to be fully perceived, encouraging viewers to explore all the subtle nuances. For her, the process is enjoyable and therapeutic.

INTERVIEW

First of all, introduce yourself to our readers. What is your artistic background, and how did you start experimenting with images?

I'm Yubin, an Illustrator and Designer based in NYC. The work I create usually embodies playfulness, wonder, and humor. What I love most about art is storytelling—the process of coming up with stories, building a plot, designing characters, and creating a world excites me so much.
Growing up, I have always been obsessed with making art and being creative. I vividly remember receiving a huge set of colored pencils for my birthday when I was a child. Since I was obsessed with colors, I used every single one of the colored pencils to fill up the entire piece of paper. It was just so fun seeing all the colors mixed up together and creating a beautiful harmony.
This kind of experience naturally led me to pursue art throughout my school years, specifically Illustration at the School of Visual Arts, and I am currently pursuing my illustration and graphic design profession in my career.

Why are you an artist, and when did you first become one?

I would say I first became one when I started doing professional work. My initial professional experience occurred at the Baturu Cultural Festival, where I created posters and illustrations to promote cultural and film festivals. These works were published online and featured in offline events. Witnessing my creations reach such a broad audience and receiving a positive reaction was thrilling and reassured me that I am indeed an artist. I felt genuinely proud of my achievements. Building on this experience and continuing my career has allowed me to further strengthen my skills as an artist, giving me the confidence and realization that what I do is the work of an artist. As for why I am an artist, it's simply because I love creating art.

How would you define yourself as an artist today?

I would like to define myself as an artist who enjoys experimenting and embraces diversity in ideas, mediums, styles, stories, and challenges. I don't want to be confined to a specific mold; I like to engage in various artistic pursuits as I believe in my capability to explore manifold things.
Challenging myself is an integral part of my artistic journey. I find that doing only one thing can be mundane, so I strive to outdo myself and branch out, explore, and embrace the infinite possibilities that the world of art offers. Therefore, I aim to become an artist with a vast spectrum, range, and experimental approach and define myself in such a manner.

Storytelling is crucial to your work, and you create fictional worlds with your pieces. Can you tell us about the process of creating your work? How do you go from the first idea to the final outcome?

Telling stories is certainly crucial to me; I love it just as much as the process of creating art. It may sound cliché, but stories naturally come to me at the most random times. I have to make sure I jot them down or sketch something quickly; otherwise, I will forget about them, and opportunities like these don't come often. When it does happen, the thrill is indescribable, like an 'aha' moment.
Although these stories come naturally to me, I believe they stem from the accumulation of inspiration from daily life, whether it's from a movie, book, or real-life experiences. Compiling a list of ideas is a good example to get started. One day, I really wanted to create a story/art about eyes. I had such a huge fascination with eyes; I found them beautiful and believed they contained incredible stories about a person. This idea lingered in the back of my mind until one day, it naturally popped into my head that I wanted to create a story about a monster obsessed with eyes, who had lost one eye and was looking for the most precious and unique eyes. I started doing research on eyes and watched films related to eyes like 'The Series of Unfortunate Events,' 'I Origin,' and more. From there, I kept expanding the story, refining the plot, talking to people with more experience in developing stories and creating numerous sketches to reach a point where I was satisfied. Then, I built my world: backgrounds, characters, props, and everything needed to complete the story. I believe what takes the most time is developing the story and building the concept. After that, creating the images happens pretty smoothly. And that is how my series 'The Eye' was created.

What themes do you pursue with your work?

My favorite themes to delve into are journeys, quests, and problem-solving. I find these to be really enjoyable themes to unfold and can develop a fascinating story. When you expand on these themes, it's like fitting pieces of a puzzle that eventually solves the problem at the end. I enjoy taking the audience along for the journey as the story unfolds. This also reflects my artistic process; it's all a journey.

What's the essential element in your art?

Intricate details are very essential to me. I love art that has many little details and elements to explore. I enjoy sitting down for hours and creating a piece with numerous intricate details that one has to take in for a while. It's therapeutic and also really fun to create. The delicate lines and textures are what define my art. Another aspect I value is humor; I like to incorporate some sort of humorous element into my art, whether it's the character's expression, pose, or a humorous storyline. Whatever it may be, I like to include it.

You have a very distinctive style, with recognizable characters and recurring elements, such as Baroque and Rococo ones. How did you come up with this specific style? What elements do you take into consideration, and how do they influence your work?

I believe my favorite artists have a significant impact on the style I like to utilize. Artists like Erte, Daniel Egneus, and Eiko Ishioka are legends whom I look up to. These artists all have a very distinctive style characterized by extravagant, meticulous, and embellished details reminiscent of Baroque and Rococo styles. By examining the works of my favorite artists and emulating them as a practice, as well as studying the styles of Baroque and Rococo, I believe I have been able to develop my own specific style. The elements I take into consideration include the decorative and ornate, as well as dynamic styles, and I like to incorporate these elements into my work.

You primarily work digitally. What technologies or apps do you use? 

Yes, I work mostly digitally. Photoshop is my most-used software tool, but I recently bought an iPad, so I have been using Procreate as well. I really like that you can record your drawing process on Procreate; I enjoy watching the time-lapse from start to finish. Ultimately, I use both Photoshop and Procreate simultaneously as I believe they complement each other in areas where one might lack.

Is there anything new you have tried or are planning to try? Any new technology, medium, or technique you would like to introduce into your practice?

I want to delve into 3D digital art, a realm I have yet to enter, and I am eager to learn. Sometimes I face challenges because the art I create is very flat and two-dimensional. I aspire to explore more multi-dimensional possibilities. I am curious to see how my art will translate into the 3D digital world. I think it would be truly fascinating and could make my art a very immersive and dynamic visual experience. I really look forward to trying it one day.

Finally, are there any projects you are looking forward to for this year?

I worked on many fun and interesting projects last year. I was part of a group exhibition called 'Fifteen Hours in the Sun: Summer Solstice' in NYC. Also, during this time, I created my series 'The Eye,' for which I received a merit award. Simultaneously, I joined Halara, where I participated in many projects and campaigns, designing and developing materials for rebranding. As I move forward into 2024, I plan to continue working on larger-scale projects there. Additionally, I am in the process of creating a new short storybook that I am excited to share with the world before the year ends. Overall, in 2024, I am looking forward to working on substantial projects and creating impactful art.

Artist’s Talk

Al-Tiba9 Interviews is a promotional platform for artists to articulate their vision and engage them with our diverse readership through a published art dialogue. The artists are interviewed by Mohamed Benhadj, the founder & curator of Al-Tiba9, to highlight their artistic careers and introduce them to the international contemporary art scene across our vast network of museums, galleries, art professionals, art dealers, collectors, and art lovers across the globe.