Lee Jae-Hyo

Born in 1965 in Hapchen, Korea, Jae Hyo Lee produces immaculately formed, intricate sculptures that reveal a mastery of his materials. Lee holds a BFA from the Hong-Ik University in Seoul. He currently lives and works near Seoul.

 

Working with wood and metal, Lee designs functional furniture and artistic sculptures, benches, stools, and tables figured of abstract and biomorphic forms. Each piece he crafts is composed of an engaging shape and has an inherently domestic purpose at the same time. The artist plays with the boundaries between modern art and design while demonstrating a solid respect for raw materials and an innovative approach for displaying their characteristics. Revealing a subtly humorous and unsentimental attitude to nature, he believes that the beauty of art is a product of the labor from where it comes from.

 

Jae Hyo Lee has exhibited in Korea, Japan, China, the UK and the USA and has won a number of honors, including the Grand Prize of Osaka Triennial, the Young Artist of the Day award presented by the Ministry of Culture of Korea and the Prize of Excellence in the 2008 Olympic Landscape Sculpture Contest. His works are widely appreciated and collected in Asia, Europe and America and are part of the Sungkok Museum collection in Korea.

Image courtesy of the artist