|
Lee, Myung - Sook When MyungSook Lee was invited by the McMaster Museum to have a solo show in 2004, Miroslav Lovric, a McMaster mathematics professor, who tried to incorporate specific aspects of the visual arts into his mathematical theories, stepped forward to write about her paintings. There were a number of people who paid special attention to Lee and her paintings since she was the first Korean artist, who was to have a solo exhibit at one of the first class museums in Canada. Among them, Lovric and his pupil, Rivka Birkan, were especially enthusiastic, and their understanding of Lee's works impressed me deeply. Over the course of several long conversations, Lovric explained that he found the geometrical elements in Lee's paintings intriguing in terms of her particular way of creating space by inserting lines and curves. His theoretical investigation of Lee's painting started with a formal description of the relationship between geometrical painting and mathematics. As Mondrian and Malevich showed in their geometric abstraction, Lovric saw that Lee's simplification of forms is a means to express the pure and fundamental elements of human life and environment. In fact, Lee has been exploring natural as well as artificial forms in simplified expression through her refining process. While her restricted palettes and the limited numbers of lines convey a Minimalist tendency, her arbitrary proportion that has nothing to do with three dimensional constructions such as the golden ratio, and the free orientation of lines, can be seen as common facets of Abstract Expressionism. However, what Lovric ultimately finds compelling in Lee's paintings is the very notion of the human desire for eternal truth: he writes, "Questioning human values and scientific truths, Lee is confronted with the same challenges of determining what comprises human reality and of expressing universal and unifying experiences." As Lee told me a while ago, she has been trying to capture the balanced state of things around her; through the balanced moment, the inner self finds its place in true reality. What we recognize with our naked eye can be ephemeral and transient, and our awareness of the reality of this world comes to us momentarily, and inconsistently. It seems only natural for human beings to desire to see or experience the truthfulness of life or even death; this is perhaps why we never cease trying to challenge the unknown world. It is not an easy task to be open-minded and ready to take on the challenge: it requires continuous endeavor to turn one's mind towards this mode of thinking as well as action. As Lyotard said, thinking and suffering overlap. Lee doesn't seem to hesitate to endure suffering for her cause; her attitude towards her paintings is almost religious. When she talks about her paintings, she addresses the inevitability of expressing herself in a quiet voice. She emphasizes the importance of being humble and yet passionate about life and work. I remember the inevitability of expressing herself in a quiet voice. She emphasizes the importance of being humble and yet passionate about life and work. I remember how I puzzled over her somewhat mystical description of her abstract paintings, and the way she reveals herself as a down-to-earth individual. Where is the junctions of these two contracontradictory aspects of reality? It was in her paintings that I found a possible answer. In this exhibit at the Ihn Gallery, Lee shows her most recent paintings; ones which she completed since coming from Canada. While in Toronto, she went through a difficult period dealing with the alien culture and language. The only way she found to express herself was through her paintings; as evidenced in the title of her show, "My Mother Tongue." Through this new series of paintings, Lee has come to refine her own language much further. The richness of the texture, the \pristine and yet bold lines, and the more subdued colours together deliver the richness of her thoughts, and her passion.
|