Heejoon Lee
이희준은 삶의 풍경에서 얻은 이미지를 추상 회화로 옮겨 담는다. 그가 사는 아주 가까운 주변부터 먼 타지까지 여행하며 얻은 축적된 경험과 일상의 이미지를 수집, 편집과 붓질을 거쳐 기하학적 형태를 더한다. 구성된 찰나의 이미지들은 켜켜이 쌓아 올린 물감의 질감과 그 시간이 더해져 캔버스 위에 새로운 공간을 그려낸다. 네모난 상자에 동그란 형태의 요소들로 이루어진 스피커라는 사물의 미학적 형태에서 영감을 받아 제작한 스피커 <Speaker>(2016-2017) 시리즈를 지나, 도시의 풍경을 바탕으로 한 <A Shape of Taste>(2018-), 겨울날 여행한 일본 북해도의 눈 내린 작은 도시의 이름을 차용한 <Biei>(2019), 그리고 포토콜라주와 두꺼운 마티에르의 기하도형이 화면의 층위를 구성하는 <The Tourist>(2020), <Image Architect>(2021-) 시리즈까지 작가는 사소한 오브제에서부터 주변의 풍경으로 시선을 옮겨 시각적 경험을 추상회화로 전환을 넘어 건축과 회화가 공존하는 공간의 경험으로 확장된다.
Heejoon Lee (b.1988, Korean) transfers the images he gathered from the scenes of his life into abstract paintings. From his immediate surroundings to the faraway foreign lands he traveled, these accumulated images of his experience and daily life are collected, edited, and painted by the artist, with the addition of geometric shapes. This composition of instant moments, with the texture of layered paint and time, creates a new space on the canvas. Heejoon Lee’s interest in translating visual experience into abstract paintings began with the Speaker series (2016-2017), in which the artist was inspired by the aesthetic form of speakers—a rectangular box with circular elements. He then shifted his gaze from mundane objects to the landscape surrounding him, creating various series of works such as A Shape of Taste (2018-), based on the cityscape; Biei (2019), the title of which comes from a small snowy city in Hokkaido, Japan, where the artist traveled during the winter; and The Tourist (2020) series, in which the photo-collage and the thick matière of the geometric shapes compose the layers of the frame. Evident from the title of his recent series, Image Architect (2021-), Heejoon Lee moves beyond simply recreating his visual experience on canvas toward creating a spatial experience in which the architecture and painting coexists within the frame, for his viewers to inhabit a space the artist has now invited them into.
Heejoon Lee (b.1988)
Crystallizing the Sea Salt
2023
Acrylic and photo-collage on canvas
91 x 91 cm
Heejoon Lee (b.1988)
Unfinished Sudoku
2023
Acrylic and photo-collage on canvas
91 x 91 cm