When the window opens, and the wind comes in
Write. Jiyeon Kim (Art Critic)_2024
The protagonists in novels or movies go on a journey, whether it is actual or symbolic. One of the tricks of constructing a story is to instill in the protagonist the goal of the journey. They encounter certain troubles in daily life and engage in a compelling struggle within the story to reach their goal or destination.
However, in most interesting narratives, the protagonist arrives at an unexpected end rather than what was aimed at. Still, the journey is not a failure. On the journey to achieve the initial goal, they discover their true inner self, eventually reset the goal, and begin a new journey. This way, when they miss the target that they were initially aiming for and finally hit another target right in the middle, a beautiful narrative is born. It is a journey of success to reach the true destination while going through the process in abundance through thesis-antithesis-synthesis.
What if the artist’s journey to work is viewed as one story. The goal may be to find completeness within the one work in hand now, or a world that is not yet visible may be the destination. Artist Lee Chae is more like the latter. The traces left after the long journey of work become paintings and sculptures. The blue flower Lee takes as the theme is not an actual flower but an ideological one that symbolizes the artist’s inner self. It may be the ideal to reach from the inside or the desire and admiration for the completion of the artistic world. The narrative goal of what the artist started is to find the blue flower, a long journey that you do not know when it will be accomplished.
The traces of thinking that acts on its own
Just as a traveler repeatedly puts one step after another, the artist puts paint on the screen and wipes it out again and again. According to the artist, it is to revive the texture of the mind through immersion. Wiping off the paint that has already been painted seems like undoing an action and returning to the past. It seems useless at first, but the traces left on the canvas prove it has existed there. It is the place of thought created by conflicting actions.
Allowing contradictions and conflicts between different elements creates room for unlimited change. If the balance is successfully maintained, it will reveal a stable appearance on the surface, but it is different in essence from the rigid state from the beginning. It is a lively state of stability that can move at any time. Artist Lee Chae’s screen is an image of the traces of thinking that remained after repeatedly blooming from the inside and the balance achieved during a long journey.
While Lee Chae’s early works put more weight on the process, focusing on blooming the flower inside, recent works are devoted to revealing the flower to the audience more visually. It expresses the image on the screen, adopting the curved shape of plants found in everyday life. During the working journey, the flower of the inner self continued to grow both in the mind and on the screen. The artist’s mind finally became stronger, and the tender flower appeared in a lignified form in the previous exhibition, “Lignification.”
Trees grow straight upward at the beginning and become stable. It is the process of firmly establishing their position. However, trees cannot only grow upward. They must go through the process of spreading branches in all directions and expanding them. As branches and leaves become lush, the body overlaps with other trees that stand side by side. They exchange pollen, block the sun or the wind for each other, and build flexible relationships with their surroundings. It is the process of forming a landscape by embracing a wider world, away from a flower or a tree.
Flowers and trees also grow in the painting. Contradictions and collisions also happen in the relationships of different beings. Incompatible elements such as curve and straight line, vertical and horizontal, rising and falling, and wide and narrow show various rhythms and are narrowly balanced. The tension that rises from the difference implies the possibility of change to come and brings life to the screen. This also must be a vitality that stems from the artist’s inner self.
Now, the wind is blowing through the trees. The plants we see every day don’t look so different. It is because we overlook them. However, when the leaves are shaken by the wind on a hot summer day, we finally realize that the trees that have curled up and survived through the winter grew lush leaves during the spring and summer and that we have entered the middle of summer. We only know it once the wind blows. Growth comes together with repeated actions we take every day and small, unnoticeable changes, but the moment we realize it comes unexpectedly.
In the screen of the artist Lee Chae, the shadow of the wavering tree by the wind appears. Whispers of leaves rustling through blue light and shadow are heard. It is the scene where traces of thinking gather and live. Even if it is the trace of an event that happened inner self of the artist, another event now occurs from within the screen. Especially in recent works, each element is more closely involved, which creates a rhythm. Plants created by the artist but have acquired vitality by themselves lean on each other and extend a new branch of the story. While reorganizing the order and balance inside the screen, the possibility of an infinite narrative opens.
Destination within the process
In the movie “Butterfly (2002)”, which resembles the narrative of “The Bluebird,” Julien, who collects butterflies, and a little girl named Elsa go on a trip to the forest in search of a fantasy butterfly “Isabelle.” After searching for the butterfly for a week, they return empty-handed and find “Isabelle” at home. The actual butterfly and the love of Elsa’s mother, Isabelle, were all in place. Fantasy and daily life were equally phenomenal. It was the truth that was realized by the journey after a long detour.
The protagonist of a story always meets the outside world and faces changes to grow. They have to break their own pattern and come out to face the outside to meet the moment of growth. Therefore, artist Lee Chae opens the window of the image and embraces the wind. Opening the window implies opening the path to the outside world. Plants facing the wind move more vividly and show their existence. They brush each other’s bodies and imply another change. Let’s open the window and look further. Soon, they will realize that there is a vast forest in which they are traveling. An endless journey will unfold.
People become strong when experiencing difficulties in a long journey of life. Of course, becoming strong is a sign of growth, but if they only continue to stay strong in one direction, they will inevitably face obstacles like dogma and isolation. Therefore, what is special is the flexible attitude of a person who has already become strong. If they are flexible from the beginning, they will be easily swept away by the blowing wind, which will cause their existence to fade. However, if they stay firm and face the wind, they can ride the rhythm of the wind without stumbling like a dancer who holds the core firmly and moves gracefully. The image of a blue flower that opened the window and faced the wind shows a person’s attitude to become flexible again after being this strong.
I recall the quote, “Every journey has a secret destination that even the traveler does not know.” by philosopher Martin Buber (b.1878). The protagonist’s destination at the end of a story always differs from the initial plan. However, it is the richness of the process that determines the completeness of the story. While flowers bloom and fall to grow into trees within the artist’s inner self, the shape of the blue flower continues to change anew. It is a process of discovering the true destination, not a change of destination. Wider arms are born while the plants on the screen lean on each other, shake in the wind, and create shadows. The destination to reach may exist in the process.
Longing and Waiting: The Emotional Echoes from the Cycles of Creation and Loss
Write. Lev AAN (Art Critic)_2023
“The form intended to encapsulate the blue flower lingers in my heart, gradually dissipating and decomposing, leaving only its traces.”
「Afterimage, Becoming a Tree」, From the work notes of Lee Chae
As petals fall in a gentle curve, lines descend slowly into the deep abyss of emotions. Circular forms float like blue moons on the canvas, suggesting the possibility of ascent. Straight rectangular shapes cradle the descending lines, like the undulating layers of emotion. Ineffable emotions are thus articulated through the dynamics of lines and planes, curves and straight lines, gravity and overlay, descent and ascent, forming a solid composition. The inner world transforms from an object of representation to one of relationships. It becomes an object of emotion, an object of time.
Lee Chae translates the depths of his inner self into nature on his canvases. He painted the <Blue Moon>, <Constellation>, <The Blue Flower> and <The Innumerable Petals>. He also painted <Rhythm in Blue>. The nature that blossoms from the artist’s inner world sinks into the depths of the heart, gradually disintegrating and vanishing, leaving only vestiges behind. Lee Chae visualized the profound, beautiful yet unreachable emotions and spirit of the inner self through abstract forms and repetitive traces of nature (flowers, petals, moon, constellations).
These vestiges become afterimages, emerging from the depths of his emotions <Afterimage>. The nature that blossoms within his inner world loses its form, leaving only traces in the artist’s heart. However, these traces, imbued with the passage of time, are not the emotions transformed into nature (no distance), but emotions inspired by nature (distanced), newly created as afterimages. Between loss and creation, there exists longing and waiting. Longing brought by loss, and waiting for new creation. This longing and waiting transform delicate yet beautiful flowers, layer by layer, into a solid tree.
The Differentiation of Emotion
An artist visually communicates their emotions and experiences through color, form, and composition. In the oeuvre of Lee Chae, one discerns the artist’s emotional response to the world and his temporal experiences. His works materialize as poetic paintings born from profound introspection. The ineffable essence of the artist’s fundamental inner self is distilled into a refined visual language that comes to light. The fundamental states of emotions and spirit—motions, relationships, interactions, and dynamic forces within the self—are meticulously translated into the painterly lexicon of lines, planes, colors, and textures under Lee Chae’s meticulous hand. He composes poetry with lines, sings through colors, and conveys emotion via planes.
A particularly compelling aspect of his work is the perpetual slippage of the inner self. While his creations are visual expressions of his internal emotional and spiritual landscape, the creative process itself alters these emotions and spirits. The emotions and thoughts that predate his creative endeavor are transformed by the act of creation itself, rendering them in a constant state of flux, perpetually elusive, and ultimately beyond reach. The act of creation catalyzes a dynamic transformation within his inner world. As he endeavors to reach the profundity of his inner being, this effort paradoxically distances it further. Lee Chae articulates, “As I immerse myself in oil painting, the interpretations, meanings, and concepts dissolve and slip away. … I repeatedly enter and exit the painting with my unique visual perspective, maintaining a dynamic correspondence and distance with the work.” (from his work notes) Consequently, Lee Chae’s paintings can be understood as a ‘differentiation of emotion (différance; Jacques Derrida)’. The kinetic interplay of emotions and spirit generates differences through performative acts, yet the incessant repetition of these acts defers any definitive resolution, perpetually postponing closure and allowing meaning to continually elude capture.The concept of ‘differentiation of emotion’ is intricately linked to the artist’s performative methodology Lee Chae applies thin layers of paint to delineate lines or surfaces, then wipes them away. This cyclical process of application and erasure is endlessly repeated. This iterative action introduces difference, but this difference is perpetually deferred due to the repetition. Over time, the residual traces of these repeated actions, coupled with the paint that remains, culminate in intersecting forms that signify the completion of the work. Throughout this repetitive process, the artist’s inner self remains in a state of flux. Initial interpretations, meanings, and concepts dissolve through the repetitive acts of creation and negation. The attempt to interpret collapses, and the rational frameworks for understanding dissipate. The repetition of actions, the performativity itself, drives the work forward, rendering the inner self distant once again and submerging the emotions into the depths.
Afterimages: The Strata of Layered Time
The act of applying and wiping away paint signifies the loss of time. The time spent painting is erased with each wipe. Although one begins, the destination turns out to be the starting point once again. Within the repetitive actions of applying and wiping paint, time is repeatedly lost. However, this does not mean that the past time ceases to exist. Time may be lost, but its traces remain. Thus, Lee Chae’s repetitive actions symbolize both the loss and the accumulation of time. The traces of past moments overlap with those of subsequent moments, layering continuously. Consequently, the canvas, through repeated application and erasure, embodies a timeless state where the past and present intertwine. In this timeless canvas, the traces of time persist, and these traces transform into afterimages.
“Afterimages are not the absence of the subject.” (from his work notes) Wiping the painted subject does not mean it has completely vanished. The loss and accumulation of time retain the moments when the subject existed. These are the traces and afterimages. Lee Chae forms layers by overlapping lines and shapes, constructing the structure and space of afterimages through the smudging of forms. The traces of repetition expressed through lines and planes illustrate the artist’s actions, timelessness and the cyclical nature of time. While he deliberately draws lines and shapes, he also embraces the natural smudging and residual marks. The intentionality and repetition in his work combine with natural smudging to create a unique dynamism and atmosphere in his paintings.
The primary actions forming afterimages in his works are smudging and wiping. Lee Chae uses varying amounts of turpentine to smudge the paint. Smudging shows the expansion and spreading of afterimages, while wiping can be seen as the act of refining these afterimages. He creates spatial dimensions through outward expansion and connects them to inner experiences through internal refinement. However, he approaches smudging cautiously within the flow of time. “I was cautious of unrestrained expansion, directing the blurring inward rather than outward.” (from his work notes) In essence, he prioritized contemplation of the inner self over merely achieving visual effects through smudging.
Afterimages encapsulate the passage of time and the traces of memory. Through his process, the artist layers time upon itself, forming strata of temporal traces. In his work, afterimages reveal the interaction between past and present, memory and representation. The repetitive acts of applying and wiping, along with the gradually formed traces of smudging, are the record of the texture of time. Lee Chae metaphorically describes his recent works as “becoming a tree.” The traces forming afterimages are the grains of time. He likens these grains, accumulating like tree rings, to the strengthening of a tree over time.
The Unreachable Depths of the Inner Self
“The blue flower was a longing to reach the unreachable.” Now, “the flower has become a tree.” (from his work notes) But now that the flower has become a tree, has the artist reached the unattainable depths of his inner self? Has the waiting ended? Such a conclusion cannot be drawn. The performativity of repetition invokes the ‘differentiation of emotion,’ plunging feelings once again into the abyss. The inner self constantly evolves, even in the moment of creation, and the time spent waiting to reach that unattainable depth continues to extend. However, afterimages evoke the presence of the subject, pulling emotions from the depths. Afterimages are not the absence of the subject. Yet emotions remain in motion, and fragments of these emotions continue to obscure their fundamental form, floating across the canvas. The inexpressible inner essence never becomes clear; it only approaches as an afterimage. As the artist states, “Resonance requires distance. And distance is another word for longing.” (from his work notes) The unattainable signifies distance. Distance gives rise to longing. The artist continues to wait to reach the unattainable. Between creation and loss, there is longing and waiting. Lee Chae’s work is an emotional gesture, rendered through the performativity of repetition and the grain of time, capturing this longing and waiting. longing. The artist continues to wait to reach the unattainable. Between creation and loss, there is longing and waiting. Lee Chae’s work is an emotional gesture, rendered through the performativity of repetition and the grain of time, capturing this longing and waiting.
Going back to the visible or invisible line
Write. Yuki Konno (Art Critic)_2023
Lines: Encompassing direction and balance
A line is drawn. It extends from one starting point to another. As a result of capturing the traces of such a force, the line is there. It is not wrong to say that the bar stays on the surface, but it always can’t be seen that way. The outline of an object contains lines in which things and atmosphere, space, and depth contact each other. It does not converge to the nature of either artificial or natural. Some may see straight lines or circles and detect the abilities artificially allowed only to humans. Likewise, it may be said that the line is the backbone and stem of natural objects—humans, plants, animals, and water. Both are correct but accepting it as a gift to either side is a big mistake. It is because the line exists in the neutral zone that connects both sides. Just as a line drawn on paper points to a flat surface, a conductor’s hand leads several people in harmony, and the facade of a building becomes the boundary greeting a human being. It is necessary to accept it as connecting the places where beings living on different dimensions meet each other instead of seeing it only as a starting point for partitioning the artificial and the natural.
The lines drawn in works of art, among paintings, are not only the marks of the artist and the tools he uses but also lead to a connection between dimensions. Not only does the line drawn on the surface gradually form a sense of space, but it also starts with the evidence of the act left by the artist and leads the viewer to read and interpret. In this relationship between humans and their actions, the line leads to a sense of plane and depth, traces and reading, and artificiality and coincidences while at the same time supporting the power that does not lean to one side in this neutral zone. Therefore, the line should not be seen as either the trace left by the artist’s subject in the work of art or the beauty of the object itself, such as the figure or form. Instead, it is an invisible thread that not only moves and connects the two but also balances them. It can be said that the movement of the direction from what is not called something to what is changed and the connection of the two dimensions to stay is “The line” of the work of art.
Flowers and trees
Thesolo exhibition “Becoming a Tree” will be different from the solo exhibition “SHAPE OF BLUE” held in 2020, and how will it be so? Within the commonality of repetitive strokes and simplified moldings, the artist develops from the appearance of flowers and the tone of blue. However, development does not currently move to a completely different stage but instead spans the previous & the past. The surface is polished as if cultivating makes more spatial depth in this solo exhibition. The extension of the last work, as if they are blooming and flashing flowers, the title “By Becoming a Tree” mainly emphasizes gravity and the viewer’s perspective. The reason is that the vertical and horizontal encounters are prominent, unlike the previous works expressed as if they were scattering; the screen is divided horizontally from becoming a tree to stability, and the image of a tree extending straight upward support each other. Just as rooted trees grow from the ground to the sky, the binding forces of synergistic growth and gravity maintain their power without betraying each other.
The gravity and the binding force, and the power that connects and supports them simultaneously, provide a stable point for the viewer, unlike the previous work. In the “SHAPE OF BLUE” entry, if the blue-toned fragments bring a sense of floating as if this image is weightless and floating on the ground, the work presented by the artist in “Become a Tree” also provides the perspective of placing roots on the floor as the title suggests. Nevertheless, the result is not a landscape (painting) that looks as if it is spatially immersed. As the drawn sculptures overlap, it pursues a spatial illusion, but it returns to the plane surface by the line drawn by the artist. In the work, the bar plays two roles: drawing and erasing. The line drawn by the artist is the area of the brush strokes and the line that is polished (again, but partially leaving it). In Lee Chae’s work, the painting and erasing show a different relationship from creating a three-dimensional illusion or depth when the two opposite things are performed simultaneously, returning to the surface. As the erased traces re-reveal the brown-toned canvas, the shape dimly—to connect in the language the artist explains—stays in the “afterimage.” It encompasses not only the fine paint’s liquid flow but also the spatial representation’s planarity.
The ‘repetition,’ which is mentioned several times in the Q&A contained in the personal exhibition book in 2020 and in the artist’s, notebook written in preparation for this exhibition, is neither a listing of the same motifs nor the same act nor is it an ever-growing development that continues to grow. In his work, ‘repetition’ should be understood as ‘circulation.’ In this exhibition, circulation shows the difference and connection between the previous work and the process of drawing and erasing lines that appear in individual results. The work that looks like the fluttering petals or the rhythm of the grass opens wide, and the petals begin to appear, fallen to the ground. The visual expression, which is used to express weightlessness, looks down at the ground from above and looks gravitationally at the end of the vitality. The cycle of flower blooms and burdens is more prominent by the vertical-horizontal intersection emphasized through this solo exhibition. The balance that rises in line with accepting gravity and pulls between the two directions simultaneously is the nature that the artist portrays.
The time of expression and the untimeliness of the plane
In Lee Chae’s painting, the line is directed toward the untimeliness of expression—the object to be expressed, the time of presentation, and the “surface.” The time of the action and the thing of word in which this time is recorded on the screen by repeating the remaining like wood grain. In addition, as the line wiped on the green line overlaps, the canvas gradually recedes toward an empty time and “plane.” Canvas is the beginning and destination of painting. He emphasized the inefficiency of “a plane surface” instead of “space.” Suppose a gesso-ed canvas arranges the shape as if it were floating and creates a space where you cannot abandon the illusion. In that case, Lee Chae’s work allows the object of expression to be returned to the plane surface, which is the starting point and destination, through scratching and wiping with a line. With this trace alone, you can think of it in connection with the ‘afterimage’ mentioned by the artist. However, the line that does not remain in the state of action or power but indicates both direction and balance activate the circularity of his work.
The lines are drawn simultaneously inside and outside. But it’s more of a turning point than dividing something into two. It constantly captures and moves our gaze, like a vast-unfolding horizon, never to reach. In his painting, the “afterimage” is a trace of something and a circulation from there to another dimension. It is a change in which the material of the flower becomes a tree and a forest, maintaining the balance of conflicting forces when the vertical and the horizontal meet, returning to the surface by wiping out the expression by lines, and the circulation preserved in this collection. The line that balances the force and distance extending in between toward one direction captures/regains the screen without being visible and captures/regains our gaze/perspective.