GeunHwa Lee: Flow
GeunHwa Lee: Flow
Galerie Pici Seoul
GeunHwa Lee paints the inner landscape of the sea. The landscape stretches beyond realistic representation. Today, we mainly experience underwater scenes through video and photography, or through scuba diving experiences. The invisible world has entered the visible world. There are of course certain limitations to these experiences, as the sea only allows us to venture to the depths limited by our human bodies. The inside of the sea remains dark and unknown.
– Young Taek Park (Art Critic)
“When I dive into the water, I enter another world. Another wonderful world that lives like humans on earth.”
– GeunHwa Lee
Traversing the floor of the sea, Lee shows multiple perspectives of her adventure underwater. From straight on, the viewer is immersed in the darkness of the deep sea, its black mass consuming the canvas. From the side view, the viewer can see the three-dimensionality as an arrangement of paper representing a school of fish swimming alongside the energy flow kicked up from a submarine.
Flow 1, 2020. Mixed Media. 45.98 x 35.82 in / 116.8 x 91 cm © GeunHwa Lee
Lee’s main theme in her practice is discovering the underwater world in the hidden sea. She uses different blues to identify the depth of each work with deeper blues being covered by masses of fish and lighter blues holding more equal space to the fish. These inner landscapes are Lee’s own imagination of the world we often are unable to see.
The power and speed shown through the movement of the group of fish create a large mass underwater. The bright light shines down into the sea, illuminating the darkness. The detail of the reflected light is placed in opposition to the dark fish shaped above it. The shapes balance one another out, creating a dance between light and dark, still and active.
Flow, 2019. Mixed Media. 51.29 x 38.18 in / 130.3 x 97.0 cm © GeunHwa Lee
Lee uses light experiments to create balanced scenes between the dark schools of fish and the illuminated floor of the sea. She shines bright whites into the water, the light working with the school of fish to aid in their unified movement. Her exploration of the unknown requires pushing the limits of the physical body, where light plays a huge role in discovering further and further into the sea.
This work consists of an intense shade of red that represents the sunlight hitting the surface of the water, penetrating deep into the sea and drawing countless shoals of fish toward its light. The heat of the sun attracts the fish to move in such a way that controls their behavior.
Flow, 2020. Mixed media, 28.62 x 35.78 / 72.7 x 90.9 cm © GeunHwa Lee
Many of the titles use “Flow”, implying movement and motion within the works. Her repeated use of the word in her titles exemplifies the artist’s commitment to observing a specific movement over and over again. Lee uses groups of fish to emphasize this flowing energy beneath the water’s surface.
Geun Hwa Lee takes inspiration from her personal connection with the world, specifically the ocean. Many of her works depict landscapes of the ocean floor, creating movement with three-dimensional paper to mimic schools of fish. She has participated in numerous fairs including SCOPE Miami, Busan Art Fair, Affordable Art Fair Hong Kong + New York, as well as being included in group exhibitions throughout France and China. She has had solo exhibitions in France, Turkey, and Korea.