Joo Lee Kang: Artist Lecture

When I first saw Joo Lee Kang ‘s work going up in the gallery I was immediately impressed. Not only is the imagery beautiful, detailed and striking, but also the means by which they were made is equally impressive. I have never seen artwork made by using ballpoint pen. I personally hate using pen in any situation, so to see her restrict herself to using ballpoint pen (and sometimes pencil to lay out a composition) was something I had never even thought of. The ballpoint pen allowed her to develop a full range of value while maintaining a great amount of detail. She started using pens because of their accessibility; they are easy for travel. As she worked with them, she fell in love with the characteristics of the lines. She could build up several layers of marks, adding depth and dimension to her drawings. The ballpoint pens also allowed her to create extremely distinct textures.

She was cataloguing nature in a way, using photo references from research. She wanted to create a scene showing human relation with nature in her large drawings. She incorporated aspects of home life to make the scenes more familiar to her audience. The way she composed her drawings is also interesting. She drew inspiration from classical still life paintings of the 17^th century. Her work is a combination of classical compositions, small creatures, and a strikingly modern technique. Her use of ballpoint pen brings her work into the modern time period, as her compositions are so classical. Her blue pieces also incorporate a modern subject, which is the mutation of animals after nuclear disasters in Japan. Her research shifted focus on to the animals affected.

Listening to her explain the lack of interaction with nature during her childhood made the work even more interesting. She grew up in Korea, which she described as very urban. One specific story she told during her lecture was of her parents describing to her what a sunflower looked like. The creatures and plants that are the subjects of her drawings are so familiar to me that they seem insignificant in my daily life. The fact that she focused on such trivial objects made me wonder why they would be the subjects of her focus.

In her research, Joo Lee kept stumbling upon information about the cloning of animals. This led her to investigate the concept of originality. She began scanning her drawings and printing them out in great numbers. The three-dimensional wall installation in the Art Gallery was one of the most striking in the show, but I was uncomfortable with the fact that the images used were only printed copies. After listening to her explain that she was exploring the relation of original versus scanned image to the cloning of animals, I was content with her use of scanned copies.

Overall, I was impressed with and enjoyed Joo Lee Kang’s work. The simple fact that she used such a common utensil to make such intricate and fine works of art is extremely impressive. The work seems to grab people’s interest from afar and continues to be interesting the closer they are examined.