Jaehyo Lee Case

I chose Jaehyo Lee for this assignment because of his creative work that draws one to the May 2009 edition of Sculpture magazine. Lee sculptures are assembled with natural materials such as wood pieces, branches, and stone. Lee also incorporates steel nails and bolts into charred pieces of wood, and uses metal cables to suspend and connect stone pieces together. His three dimensional works create organic forms and shimmering textures that are achieved through his obsessive and meticulous detail.

While reading "Jaehyo Lee: The Possibilities of Nature" by Jonathan Goodman in Sculpture magazine, the author describes Lee's sculpting process by "allowing the materials to speak to him, he builds self-contained worlds that mysteriously communicate with their outer surroundings. " This really interested me because I share the same idea when it comes to my ceramic work. I enjoy working with the clay and seeing where the clay takes me. I find that by letting the materials "speak" to me I achieve a more organic feel to my pieces, this is probably the same with Lee's work since they have an organic feel to them. Goodman also states, "Texture is deeply important to Lee, who emphasizes the façade of the wood, crosscut and planed to reveal the character of the grain. The surface thus reveals the character of its making, becoming indicative of the creative process and holding interest by itself." Texture is another important aspect to my work as well. Because I enjoy working with clay I like to create different textures that can be found in nature. One of my favorite pieces that I did this year was a tree stump and being able to manipulate the clay to form bark made the piece more visually pleasing to me. The texture and the forms of Lee's work are what I enjoyed most about his pieces and I thinks its because as an artist myself its what I like to do and create. I have chosen to critique three sculptures that are made from three different materials, wood, wood and nails, and stone.

The first piece comes from Jaehyo Lee's website. Its titled 0121-1110=108017, made from wood, has a diameter of 40 centimeters, and was made in 2008. What I enjoy about this piece is the beauty of the form, and surface. I like how Lee's uses the pattern of the wood its self and the repetition of the pattern in the size and shape of the wood. I also like how he puts an emphasis on the patterns by staining the wood. The form also has a good use of negative space that allows the eye to move all the round form. I am most curious as to how the inside of the piece looks, and how it was constructed into the round form. What I least like about this piece would be the stand. I do not like how the bottom is not a perfect circle and is not smooth like the rest of stand and the sculpture itself. Lee has created other form out of wood using the same design. His most recent pieces are functional furniture pieces, like sofas, and chairs. The furniture pieces also have have an organic shape not commonly seen with any other furniture made from wood.

The second piece comes from Albemarle Gallery online. The piece is titled 0121-1110=1090613, made from stainless steel bolts,nails, and wood, an is 58x120x10 centimeters.