Friday, November 12, 2010

Sung-Yeol Lee Lecture Question/Response

How do you go about choosing an appropriate metal for your various projects? Do you prefer one, or some, over others?

Do you like to work in other mediums as well? Mixed media? Or do you think that metal is the appropriate medium for your work?

RESPONSE


Sung-Yeoul Lee’s lecture was pretty short but still informant.  His initial inspiration comes from his hometown, Seoul, Korea.  He showed several images of the city to explain his geometrical way of working.  I would explain his early work as geometrical, symmetrical, and sleek.  He especially likes silver, and continued to work with that material and also stainless steel, iron, titanium, and plastic.  All of the materials have a silvery, shiny finish, which I think goes along with his sleek, perfect outcome.  Lee then explained how grad school affected his work.  He was forced to work with mixed media and began to pick up more of a conceptual eye to making jewelry and other objects out of metal.  I was interested in his discussion about graduate school, as he went to figure out why he was doing what he was doing, and wanted more of a reason behind his technical work.  I find that interesting because he is first a technically perfected metalsmith, and then an artist, while at VCU, we learn both at the same time.  I find his graduate school work to be the most interesting, since he began dealing with the idea of relationships and feeling like an alien in a foreign country.  He began to use rope as a medium to portray this idea of relationships.  This work is organic, technical, and intimate.  Overall, Lee is a well rounded artist both technically and conceptually.

No comments:

Post a Comment