Statement
Hayoon Jay Lee is a New York-based visual artist who explores the fundamental tension between indulgence and abnegation as it exists in terms of mind and body as well as on the level of social and political dynamics. Lee makes use of rice as object, motif, and metaphor: as the building block for civilizations and also as the basis for social inequities, rice allows her to create a visual echo reflecting points of conflict, oscillating between attraction and repulsion, between Orient and Occident, with the aim of inspiring self-reflection and ultimately producing conditions for healing and harmony.
Lee’s paintings contain crowds of figures embedded in rice forms, emphasizing the symbiosis between rice and life, the countless, clearly defined grains suggesting infinite regeneration. In 3D works, rice is transformed into a pyramid or a grid of 3,000-handcrafted rice “bowls” that paradoxically speak of longing and fulfillment, not to mention Buddhist concepts of suffering and seeking Enlightenment. Her installations may also take the shape of mounds of rice occupying vast spaces underneath sacks of rice hanging in rows. These emotion-laden landscapes lay just beyond our reach; the extensive fields of rice seem to glow with their own inner light, yet each element of these fields is formed by a single grain tentatively holding onto its place in the larger macrocosmic setting. Through interactive performances, she hopes to open a dialog with audiences, to create a new community of strangers, with eyes open to a more textured, multi-layered reality.
Biography
Born in Daegu, South Korea, Hayoon Jay Lee obtained a BFA in sculpture from the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) in 2007, and an MFA degree from the Rinehart School of Sculpture at MICA in 2009.
Among her many honors and awards, Lee has received a Jacob K. Javits Fellowship award (2008) from the U.S. Department of Education, a Full Fellowship Artist in Residency Award (2012) from the Pollock-Krasner Foundation, a best in show distinction award (2008) at the 14th International Exhibition at the SoHo 20 Gallery in Chelsea, New York City, and a Dapu International Art Award (2011) from the Northern Art Museum, Daqing China. Lee has participated in various artist residency programs: 99 Museum (Beijing, China: 2014), Gwangju Museum of Art (S. Korea: 2012), the Fine Arts Work Center (Provincetown, MA: 2009), the Vermont Studio Center (Johnson VT: 2009), Sculpture Space (Utica, NY: 2011), Art Farm (Marquette, NE: 2016), Byrdcliffe Artist in Residence Program (Woodstock, NY: 2012), and the Beijing Studio Center (2010) in Beijing, China. Her work may be found in the collections of the Gwangju Contemporary Museum of Art (Gwangju, Korea: 2017), the Henan Museum (Zhengzhou, China: 2010), the QCC Art Gallery (Queens, NY: 2015), the Community School of Maryland (Brookville, MD: 2004), Sculpture Space (Utica, NY: 2012), the Dapu International Art Center (Daqing, China: 2011), the FAWC (Provincetown, MA: 2009), and many private collections. She has exhibited her work widely, both nationally and internationally. Lee is known for working with rice, rice-related motifs and biomorphic vital organ-like forms, and incorporating this imagery in paintings, sculptures, installations, performances, and videos. Her artwork appeals to individual sensibilities and susceptibilities, while also encouraging reflection upon human dilemmas and global issues. She currently lives and works in New York City.