EUNSOOK LEE 이은숙(S-Korea):
In the Light of Healing
Lee, Julie Jung-sil - Art Critics, 2013
As an installation artist, Eunsook Lee grafted commemorative narratives of wartime soldiers and victims onto a challenging and sensory, contemporary art form. Motivated by the tragedies of her own family history—her father left his family in North Korea and later passed away without ever having a chance to reunite with them—Lee has sought to engage in the collective and personal sense of wartime trauma. Sad wartime stories continue to be handed down by communities of survivors, firsthand witnesses, and subsequent generations. As a reminder of the sorrow of separated families, she exhibited her light art, Vanished Berlin Wall in Berlin and Separated Names at the DMZ in Korea. Now, she installs a message of peace in Washington, D.C. to promote the dignity of life and these stories’ continuation and connection in our memories.
Lee’s work aims to inspire the audience, especially future generations, and to create empathy with the pain of wartime victims. She hopes to reunify separated families not only in North and South Korea, but also those displaced by conflicts around the world. In her search for healing of her own personal trauma—afflicted by her family situation and by an injury while creating her works—she collected photographs of wartime victims, including women who were once kidnapped or trafficked into sexual slavery yet whose souls survived with dignity. They radiate like bright stars in her works.
Lee suggests artistic healing through overlapping fragments of history. Her artistic tools include polyester, archived photographs, fluorescent threads, and black lighting. Umbilical Cords is an exceptional installation made of hand-woven cords, strips of polyester film, neon threads, and black lights accompanied by the sound of a heartbeat. Lee’s projects require painstaking manual fabrication and the collaboration of other hands, a process in which the artist and participants can meditate and better grasp the meaning of life and the importance of connections among people.
