Timothy Hyunsoo Lee Paper Art

Timothy Hyunsoo Lee paper art invites viewers to experience the artist’s inner psychological state. Lee shares himself intimately. His art is a way of exploring and engaging his own history, which involves social, emotional and psychological issues.

Lee (1990) is a Korean-born, New York-raised, Brooklyn-based artist that graduated from Wesleyan University with a degree in Neuroscience and Behavior, Drawing and Biology. Although fulfilling his dream of becoming a full-time artist, his science background is strongly incorporated within his creative process, mimicking the scientific method of observation, research, experiment, analysis and repeat.

Timothy Hyunsoo Lee paper art themes deal with struggles arising from his dual Korean-American identity, as well as his anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorders. In his words, “Though never to see as a problem but as a different state of mind.”

The magic of Lee’s works lay in his ability to create repetitive, delicate gouache painted self-portraits (or parts) on paper and then brilliantly fold, crumble and cut them into paper sculptures and installations. Faces and eyes also feature prominently in his works.

Some of his works are beautiful detailed self-portraits with tiny “cell” cutouts that remind viewers of honeycombs whose intricate, organic patterns reach the paper’s outer borders. Lee’s “Eyes” installations include many water colored paintings of his eyes in various shades that are then crumbled and folded, staring at its viewers, giving them a slightly bizarre, somewhat creepy feeling. All of Lee’s artworks depict his obsessive and labor intensive abilities, while also embracing his suffering and struggled in an amazing, captivating way. I applaud him for being a brilliant artist!

Timothy Hyunsoo Lee has been featured in several solo exhibitions worldwide and is represented by Sabrina Amrani Gallery in Madrid, Spain. I am yearning to see lots and lots more of him!