Dongwook Lee

 

 

▷ How did your work with the body and form begin?
It began in my mid-20s, when I was a student, while giving form to images that arose in my mind. I was drawn to isolated, suffering human beings, and began sculpting realistic figures to convey those images. Since childhood, I had raised and observed small creatures and collected specimens, and those interests influenced the scale of my figures and the situations in which I placed them.

 

▷ What does working with materials by hand mean to you?
I often begin making small figures without preliminary drawings. Handling the material directly becomes a kind of planning through which the work takes shape. Repeated experience has made this process second nature, allowing my sensibility to enter the figures like a signature. Materiality also expresses emotion: depending on what I want to convey and how I feel while working, I adjust the roughness and intensity, sometimes referring to the actual human body and at other times recreating the smooth imagery of a digital screen.

 

 

 

 

▷ Where do your work and 《HUMAL》meet?
My interest in humans and animals runs through my work and daily life. Raising and observing living creatures sometimes provides subject matter, and I remain in the process of exploring that connection. Some works project images of the human condition onto animals, while others imagine transformation and evolution through comparisons between human and animal bodies.

 

▷ What do you hope viewers feel?
These works present images of humanity through transformed bodies. Although the forms may appear grotesque or unsettling, they began from compassion for human beings and awe at the force of life. I hope viewers sense affection for human existence and a will to live, while reflecting on the human being both as a member of society and as an animal being.