About

photo by Glyn Stanley

 

"Life is like a quilt, so is my art."

Lee was born in Seoul, South Korea, in 1976.
Lee earned her initial BFA and MFA degrees in Seoul, South Korea. Later, she embarked on a passionate journey to study across the ocean at the Rochester Institute of Technology in New York, where she earned her second MFA.
Her education and experience from the different environments in both East and West greatly impacted her art and her life in various ways, and she tries to introduce her aesthetic value across cultures. She currently resides in Waxhaw, NC, with her husband and four children.

Lee’s artistic Journey evolved by working with various mediums, including Metal, Clay, and reclaimed materials.
She spreads small units on the panel/wall in a rhythmical variation to complete her wall sculptures.

In her recent body of work, she found various materials sourced from her daily life, such as glass bottles, sauce jars, and electrical cords. Combining these elements with clay pieces, she builds a composition of small individual units that culminate in a unified whole on the wall, like a quilt. Through her art, Lee tries to tell us the power of ordinary things when they come together and how they can become part of something greater and support each other as a unit in a whole.

One of her works, “A Way Coming Back,” is about the returning beauty of reclaimed materials in her kitchen while she finds a second chance of the material, just like she rebooted herself as an artist after a long parenting break.

The Billboards of “A Way Coming Back” were traveling around the world, starting in Charlotte, across the US, and even Seoul, South Korea, in digital and printed vinyl forms as a part of ArtPop Street Gallery‘s mission to showcase art to the public space in the whole year of 2023.

Experience

Artist In Residence @ Nine Eighteen Nine Gallery,  (2024~ )

ArtPop Street Gallery City Program  Class of 2023  (Charlotte, NC) 2023

Founder/ Director @ Hands on Well,  (2023~ )

Jeweler @ Richard & West  (Rochester, NY) 2004-2005

Artist Assistant @ Leonard Urso Studio ( Rochester, NY) 2003-2004

Teaching Assistant @ Rochester Institute of Technology 2003

Member Artist @ Gallery ARTINUS (Seoul, Korea) 2000-2002

Member Artist @Gallery Jong-No (Seoul, Korea) 1999-2000

Teaching Assistant @ Konkuk University (Seoul, Korea)  1999-2001

Sample Designer/Maker @ Jewelry NEED (Seoul, Korea) 1999-2002

 

Education

Gemological Institute of America with G.D  — 2010

Gemological Institute of America with A.J.P — 2009

Gemological Institute of America with G.P — 2008

Master of Fine Arts, Rochester Institute of Technology.

                  : School of American Craft (Rochester, NY, U.S.A)— 2005

Master of Fine Arts,  KonKuk University : Metal Craft & Jewelry (Seoul, Korea)  — 2001

Bachelor of Fine Arts, Konkuk University: Metal Craft (Seoul, Korea)  — 1999

Exhibitions

The Journey Exhibit – Charlotte International Art Festival  @ The Night Theater & SouthPark Brewing (Charlotte, NC) — 2024

“Expression of Hope” @ The Center of Hope  (Charlotte, NC) — 2024

International Art Show @ Union County Community Art Council (Monroe, NC) — 2024

“r e : B l o o m – Metal Figure Study” @ Nine Eighteen Nine Gallery  at VAPA Center (Charlotte, NC) — 2024

ArtFields 2024  @ The R.O.B. (Lake City, SC) — 2024

“Hope is Here” @ MPUMC Art Gallery  (Charlotte, NC) — 2024

Charlotte Shout! Easter Egg Parade @ The Green  (Charlotte, NC)  2024

“FREE for ALL -Spring” @ Hart Witzen Gallery  (Charlotte, NC) — 2024

r e : B l o o m – Lee Ko Solo Exhibition @ The Artisan’s Palate (Charlotte, NC) — 2024

Atrium Health Art Show @ Carolina Medical Center  Art Gallery  (Charlotte, NC) — Nov. 2023~Jan. 2024

ArtPop Street Gallery: Billboards/Digital Display Show, US nationwide & Jam Sil, Myeong-Dong, Seoul (U.S.A & South Korea) — 2023

Charlotte International Art Festival: The Journey -Art Exhibit @ Founders Hall (Charlotte, NC) — 2023

ArtPop Street Gallery: 2023 ARTISTS Exhibit @ The Fanjoy Labrenz Studio  (Hickory, NC) — 2023

“FREE for ALL -Fall” @ Hart Witzen Gallery  (Charlotte, NC) — 2023

ArtPop Street Gallery: 10th Anniversary Exhibition @ Cain Center for the Arts  (Cornelius, NC) — 2023

Keeping Charlotte Beautiful  @ Charlotte Art  League  (Charlotte, NC) — 2023

45th Annual  SpringFest  @ Mooresville Arts Gallery (Mooresville, NC) — 2023

“FREE for ALL -Spring” @ Hart Witzen Gallery  (Charlotte, NC) — 2023

“The Welcome Table” @ The Gallery at Morning Star  (Matthews, NC) — 2023

ArtFields 2022  @ Trax Visual Art Center (Lake City, SC) — 2022

“UNLEARNING” Art Exhibit @Studio229 (Charlotte, NC) — 2021

INTERSECTION Art Exhibit “METAMORPHOSE” @ Gallery C3 ALCHEMY (Charlotte, NC) — 2021

INTERSECTION Art Exhibit  @ Gallery C3 ALCHEMY (Charlotte, NC) — 2020

INTERSECTION Art Exhibit @ Gallery ALCHEMY (Charlotte, NC) — 2019

Green Earth Art Exhibit @ Gallery Bing (Seoul, Korea) — 2011

The 3rd Group of Metalsmith @ multiple locations (Seoul, Korea) — 1999-2011

Dance+Metal-Artists’ Tool Story @ Gallery I (Seoul, Korea) — 2006

The Korean Metalsmith @ Fukuoka Asian Art Museum (Fukuoka, Japan) — 2005

Cheongju International Craft Biennale : Adventure of Craft in the 21th Century

    (Cheongju, Korea) — 2005

Inspired by Light @ Gallery r (Rochester, NY) — 2004

“Coexisting” Lee’s Metal Art @ Bevier Gallery (Rochester, NY) — 2004

Emerging Artists @ Society for Contemporary Craft (Pittsburgh, PA) — 2004

Lee’s 1st Solo Show – “People” @ GANA Art Space (Seoul, Korea) — 2001

A Wishing Gift Show @ KOEX (Seoul, Korea) — 2000

Thanks+Giving Show @ INSA Art Center (Seoul, Korea) — 2000

Korea Contemporary Jewelry Show @ Gana Art Space & ILMIN Museum

(Seoul, Korea) — 1999~ 2001

Korea Modern Art Show @ KIDP (Seoul, Korea) — 1998-1999

31+1, Lover’s Gift Show @ Gallery Fine (Seoul, Korea) — 1999

Thesis

Coexisting, Rochester Institute of Technology (Rochester, NY) — 2005

Study of Metal Expression: “People”,  Konkuk University (Seoul, Korea) — 2001

Articles

ArtPop Street Gallery Class of 2023, Candace Mattingly, The Mill Magazine #14 — 2023

The Art of Craft, Richard Huntington, Buffalo News Oct 15, 2005

Western New York Collection, Cindy Sherman, Buffalo State College News — 2004