“When it disappears, I have to jump on something else so that at any time, I bounce four or five paintings at a time in the studio.”
When painting became a major part of Lee’s life, he did not leave the performance. Recently, he appeared in the movie Search and the Miracle of the Korean TV series we encountered. He said his two careers worked at the same time as each other.
“When it comes to acting, this humility comes from being able to work with others because they know they are a small part of the puzzle,” he said.
In terms of artists, it is pure narcissism, pure selfishness. I am my own dictator. I feel like I need these two elements to balance my overall balance. I’ll walk away from movies or TV shows for weeks, months, and once I’m back I’ll be back, I can try to lock myself, lock myself, lock my efforts.
In addition, his training as an actor helped his paintings. “I think the closest resource I’ve taken,” he said. “When you’re learning to perform, you’re actually studying a person’s face. You’re studying their emotions, trying to deprive people of their personal behavior, so for me, when I want to draw, that’s the closest reference I’m getting.”
Lee said his studio in the Los Angeles Fashion District is full of reference material, from magazine editing to photos he took. He wrote down the specific details that stood out for him and would start painting without prior sketching. He said it could take six months to a year to complete a painting, and he immediately made multiple works. “If I ride this line of thinking, I lose its paranoia, so I have to work hard until it disappears,” he said. “When it disappears, I have to jump on something else so that at any time, I bounce four to five paintings at a time in the studio.”
Lee called his process “organized chaos.” He describes a typical day in the studio: “Just staring at a blank canvas for hours, I jump up and down because I get a stroke that I love or yell at my canvas because I can’t seem to get the stroke I want.” Lee’s portraits usually cover up parts of the face with abstraction. He uses large strokes and bold colors to hide and reveal his subjects. He said that was not intentional. Earlier, he left little imagination. There are abstract strokes there, but unique features. Some portraits depict famous people, such as celebrities and politicians. “There is definitely more realism, but it’s just because I want to learn technology. I want to be good,” Lee said of his early work.
Recent works allow painted thick faces to cover more faces. Sometimes, the eyes or nose or mouth can still be seen. Other times, it is nothing more than the head of the hair.
Lee retains a man with a black turtleneck in his portrait with his series of works. “Unity is what I want to translate visually. The most important thing is that you have the individual strokes that everyone brings, all the different nuances and complexities,” he said.
“For me, this is a member of the choir. We are all members of this choir. Society trains us to sing the same song,
Same notes, however, when you look at us alone we all look different and we all have something different to bring to the table. ”
Reflecting on his aesthetic choices, he said it might be related to his desire to understand “motivation and behavior.”
“I think that’s why I started, and doing this literal portrait style is an attempt to ruin the look, which is the social building look that we all carry,” he said. His reflection on moving from Indiana to Los Angeles may also play a role. “Everyone has a mask, myself included, and it’s based on insecurity. It’s based on anxiety and fear. It’s hard to interact with people.” “It’s new to me, from Indiana, you naturally talk to people, and that’s good,” he added:
“It’s hard, it’s just getting to know people, it’s just making friends.”
Overall, Li said his paintings were instinctive. “I feel like my painting style is really an extension of my personality and emotions, and my painting surgery and palette are just a channel,” he said.
This article originally appeared in Hi-Fructose Issue 53, and the issue is sold out. Support our work! Get our latest issue of Hi-Fructose and subscribe here.
