Jung Lee

Sanyuhwa (The Poem ‘Flowers on the Hills’ by Kim Sowol) – Jung Lee, Neon, Light

2012

Jung Lee is a Korean artist born in 1972 in Seoul. She is best known for her photography of text-based neon light installations set directly into the landscape.

With contrasting sentimental phrases juxtaposed with stark layouts of deserted plains or barren snow fields, Lee makes a variety of strong emotional statements. One of her sources of inspiration for many of her artworks is Roland Barthes's book, A Lover's Discourse: Fragments. Lee slows everything down, patiently analyzing that most intense and overwhelming of states, unanswered desire — the language of complete love and the deep solitary state it throws the lover into. She collects clichéd expressions of love and hatred such as “How could you do this to me?” and “I still remember” and gives them resonance in the form of powerful proclamations.

Lee received her M.A. in photography from the Royal College of Art, UK, and her B.A. with honors in photography from Kent Institute of Art & Design, UK. She also received a B.A. with honors in mass communication and journalism from Kyung Hee University in Seoul, Korea. She currently lives and works in Seoul.

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