UH Hilo art alumna bursts onto international scene
South Korean artist and author Hyunjoo Lee’s central mission is to inspire children to find their dreams. “This is because I think that many problems in the world will be solved naturally if children are happy.”
An alumna from the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo’s art program is now showing her work internationally.
South Korean visual artist and children’s books author Hyunjoo “Amy” Lee studied at UH Hilo through the student exchange program, graduating in 2007 with a bachelor of arts in art.
Lee’s recent art exhibition, “The Universe Says You Are Special,” premiered in March with a month-long show in Seoul. She was chosen as the featured artist out of over 100 applicants. At the time of the exhibit, she had completed 83 pieces of artwork and five children’s books.
The gallery exhibited 31 of Lee’s drawings and paintings, far more than the five works on the first floor that they originally intended to exhibit. Lee says the full showing was able to proceed entirely as she intended. Her above-and-beyond approach to the application process is inspiring, and shows the value of committing oneself fully to a project.
“I was able to have my first individual exhibition due to my earnestness and attitude,” she says.
She also taught a one-day art class during the exhibition.
“The Universe Says You Are Special” is a thematically cohesive collection of work featuring bright rainbow colors and the theme of inner light.
“Everyone is born with their own light, and while living in the world, they seem to face many moments when the light is covered and covered by other people’s eyes and environments,” says Lee.
“I wanted to tell everyone that we had light and give them a moment to find it. We want to shine our own light, not as a comparison with others, and not as a social role as a mother or father.”
This theme is evident in many of Lee’s works, which exude brightness and joy through their vivid colors, technicolor landscapes, and focus on the beauty of living things.
After the exhibit in Seoul, Lee set her sights on showing her work overseas. She sent queries to more than 240 galleries in France.
“I wanted to feel the heart of Monet, Picasso, and Matisse, who were traveling and painting,” she says.
As with the Seoul exhibit application, Lee gave her all to the process, receiving responses from several French galleries, from which she chose a gallery in Nice on the French Riviera. That gallery included several of Lee’s paintings as part of their exhibition called “Couleurs du Monde” (“Colors of the World”) held in August at the Gallerie Tchaïkovski.
Lee credits her time at UH Hilo with helping her to find her artistic self.
“The painting and drawing classes I did with Professor Michael Marshall were the first moments when I expressed my thoughts in pictures, not a test to enter art school,” she says. “It brought me back to my childhood when I purely liked painting and that memory helped me a lot to find my dream.”
Lee hopes to do a showing in Hawai‘i in the near future.
“In Hawai‘i, which inspired me a lot, I really want to draw pictures and exhibit them at Hilo campus,” she says. “I want to show my children and husband beautiful Hilo.”
Lee says the happiness of children is central to her mission as an artist. She has authored several delightful children’s books that feature her artwork.
“My goal is to have a lot of events that will especially help children find their dreams,” she says. “This is because I think that many problems in the world will be solved naturally if children are happy.”
Story by Evangeline Lemieux, who is double majoring in English and medical anthropology at UH Hilo.
