For the month of June, Good Foods Cafe will be featuring the work of Hui Chi Lee.
Artist Statement:
I begin a drawing with a simple intention — to draw and then walk away from the piece when it is capable of engendering a conversation on its own. It is visual poetry I seek, which does not need to be loud, but a quiet ripple.
I play with ambiguity, which in turn leads me to see and contemplate things from multiple perspectives. Within these perspectives, I often reflect upon my observation of cultural traditions, which embodies the intersection of Chinese, Japanese, and Taiwanese cultures, and question their dialectical movements over time, particularly between my generation and that of my parents, and how female roles are defined in current societies.
I use subject matter in a specific and metaphorical way. For example, the human form is a natural agent to prompt a discourse on human conditions. I am interested in the obscure and anonymous quality of the human form. I want to guide viewers to ponder the subject matter in a universal manner. In my art, the color red can symbolize both a warning and an awakening moment in life, and the strands of hair signify the duration of a life span and a segment of time that can seem both finite and infinite. In each piece, those elements are implemented to convey the imperceptible influence that inherited tradition has on one’s mentality, which in turn forms the core of one’s beliefs that are difficult to break.
Contact Hui Chi at hclee@uky.edu.
