Miju Lee (South Korea, 1982) explores human emotion through painting, depicting subjective experiences.

Miju Lee depicts clear objects. However, the images in her paintings seem to be viewed from a “chiaroscuro” state, rather than a clear consciousness, as if they are emerging from fantasies, daydreams, and dozing. Some dreams are so clear that we mistake them for reality, even after we are awake. Resonating with both clear and unclear meanings that cannot be described in words, these deeply emotional, fleeting scenes tend to quickly volatilize from memory.

Miju Lee has shown a unique talent for faithfully translating these indescribable scenes into paintings. “I often pick up one or two clam or conch shells when I walk on the beach. I refer to this habit of mine as “jupjup,” a slang for “picking up and collecting items” circulated initially by Korea’s MMO gaming community”. For Miju Lee, the canvas is a surface that hosts a multitude of imagined or lived stories: the elements accumulate and blend into the background in a flattened perspective. She composes interior landscapes as a collection of beings and objects brought together like so many memories of a lifetime.

Other formative works like the “Yeti” impressively reflect his introverted side. ‘Yeti’, is a muse and inspiration who often appears in Miju’s dreams. who is like a guardian spirit to her, she transforms into an object that embodies her inner feelings.