Seung Lee, whose original name is Seung Hwi Lee, is a professor at Long Island University, C. W. Post Campus, in Brookville, New York.  His life is very dramatic, very much like other immigrants who made their American dream come true.  He was born as the youngest son among six brothers in Ga-Pyung, Kyung Gi Do, in Korea.  After his father passed away when Seung was six, his life was hard.  His mother became ill and he and his brothers had to drop out of school in order to find work.  When he was 15 years of age, his uncle-in-law, who served as an American soldier in Korea, brought Seung’s whole family to America.  The United States of America was an ideal world for him compared to his financial struggle in Korea.

Seung was asked to leave school in Korea because he couldn’t pay the tuition, but in the USA, schooling was free.  Despite his awkward English and the difference between Korean culture and American culture, Seung began to show his ability as a talented young artist.  Due to his sociable personality, he became better acquainted with the English language.  In high school, he excelled in art, math and physical education.  He was lucky to have a great art teacher in high school that saw talent in Seung, took him under his wing, and helped him get a scholarship to the Maryland Art Institute in Baltimore, Maryland.  This was hard on his family because they preferred him to become involved in their family business.

During Seung’s junior year in college, he received a scholarship to study art in Italy.  While there, he learned not only about art but also about the differences in cultures.  Seung felt this was one of the most important transitional periods in his life to becoming an artist.  His perspective broadened, and he was more accepting of the differences in art.  Being alone in Italy forced him to reflect on his life and plans for his future. 

On returning from Italy, he attended Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York, for his MFA in painting.  He worked as a taxi driver in order to support his family and to have a job that was flexible enough for him to work on his art.  Ik-Joong Kang, Soo-Choen Joen, Hyun-Jung Shin, and Ee-So Park (Mo Bac) were his classmates who were a few acquaintances he knew from Korea.

When expecting his second child, Seung moved to Long Island, New York, for a better environment to raise his children, Rose and Hannah.  Living in this suburban community brought back early childhood memories, and this is recognized in his contributions to the Long Island art community, his exhibitions, art competition judging, curating shows, and service as a panelist for grants, guest artist lectures, etc.

Seung taught drawing and painting at St. Josephs College, Dowling College, and Long Island University/C. W. Post Campus.  In 2001, he became a full-time professor and Director of Graduate Studies and Fine Arts at Long Island University.  He is one of the most respected art professors at the University. 
    Seung Lee has coached his daughter’s soccer teams for years and he still plays soccer for Long Island soccer clubs.  His students and colleagues admire his openness to different activities and his optimistic character.
 
Seung Lee’s Art

The exhibition at the Project Room, Phoenix Gallery in Chelsea, New York, is
Seung Lee’s 16th Solo Show.  All artwork in this exhibition were created in 2004-2005.  He cut his old drawings and paintings from 1980 to 2004 using scissors.  He then casts these fragmented pieces of artworks into transparent resin, and then draws these clods of resin again.  This action, in which he destroys his past artwork, preserves them as new forms and incorporates these new sculptural shapes to illustrate the complex negative to positive, and his tenacity to overcome complications in his life. 

Through the result of these complicated acts of destruction and preservation, Seung creates a new painting which represents his optimistic way of thinking about life, sending a message of hope.  Consciously or unconsciously, this thought process has resulted from the transmigration of Buddhism in which he appears to be a monk in oriental religions who is confronted with his existence in constantly cultivating his mind.  This reminds one of folk remedies that a sick patient eats his own excrement to get better.

Couple years ago, Seung relocated his studio to Brooklyn.  He had to arrange and clean up old artworks which were saved for years.  Unlike some artists, instead of burning his paintings, he chooses to “taxidermy” his old works.  His clod-like sculptures appear as time capsules, a fossil of modern times, and a stuffed specimen.  It is the concentrated sign of his history of art.  By the act of drawing his newly created sculptural objects, he revives his old history and vestige.  This act of drawing from the preserved object could be a lingering desire or mourning for the past.  This is also connected with the act of recycling discarded materials, which has been Seung’s main concept for years.

From working as a taxi driver in New York City and spending his childhood on the street, Seung created his artworks by using found objects from the street.  This might be the reason he cannot pass by abandoned objects on the street.  Chang-Seung Jeong, a junk art artist who influenced a number of young Korean artists in New York before his death, also affected him.  Many of the subjects and materials in his works are discovered on the street or in other surroundings: wood scraps, dishes, tree roots, broken TVs, VCRs, and other found materials.  He assembles things for which he has strong feelings, enthusiasm and integrity.  Some objects seem content to remain on the street, while others beg him to bring them to life.  Those objects seem to have a history, which compels him.  He has particular interest in these images because of their relationship to society and the environment.  Discarded objects directly point out the wasteful and disposable nature of society.

Seung is very interested in his local environment where he resides and works.  He supports his regional art scene through his diversified art exhibitions.  His love for discarded materials is as deep as his love for his family, neighbor, society, and natural environment.  His artwork is the only way to love his family, his neighbors, and himself.