Don’t look for anything deliberately.
Just pick what catches your eye-
-like when you rub a smooth surface
and find something sharp or bumpy, you rub it again.
Smudges, misunderstandings, bruises, wounds, traces, or spilled crumbs, leftovers…
Collect all the marks from bumping or sliding over surfaces.
While Eunsae Lee has always found inspiration in her surroundings, her approach shifted after arriving in the Netherlands. Initially, she felt adrift, perceiving only the surface of things without a deeper connection or understanding. To navigate this disconnection, Lee began painting whatever caught her eye – grapes she encountered, leftover food, moments of misunderstanding, and even an accident she experienced.
Lee’s paintings offer a vivid, ever-changing reflection of contemporary society. Beneath the soft curves and colorful brushstrokes lie deeper undercurrents of frustration, dissatisfaction, boredom, and anger — emotions that Lee channels into her creative process. Her works challenge the very sources of these feelings, simultaneously portraying and pushing back against them. Lee is particularly drawn to objects and moments that are easily objectified, isolating them from their usual context and presenting them in a fragmented, deconstructed form.
Eunsae Lee (b. 1987, South Korea) is currently a resident at the Rijksakademie. She previously studied Fine Art at the Korea National University of Arts and earned her BFA in Painting from Hongik University, both in Seoul. Her work is currently on view in the group exhibition ‘Dream Screen’ at Leeum Museum of Art, Seoul. Lee has had several solo exhibitions, including ‘mite life’ at Gallery2, Seoul and ‘Cold Rub’ at PHD Group, Hong Kong in 2023. Previous shows include ‘Night Freaks: Squat’ (2022) at L21, Mallorca, ‘Dear My Hate-Angel-God’ (2021) at Ilmin Museum of Art, Seoul, ‘As Usual’ (2020) at Gallery2, Seoul, ‘Night Freaks’ (2018) at Alternative Space LOOP, Seoul and ‘Guilty-Image-Colony’ (2016) at Gallery2, Seoul. Lee participated in several group exhibitions, including ‘Gulp’ (2024) at Doosan Gallery, Seoul, ‘Minimalism-Maximalism-Mechanissmmm Act 1–Act 2‘ (2022) at Art Sonje Center, Seoul, ‘as the Practice of Learning’ (2021) at the Nam-Seoul Museum of Art, Seoul and ‘Young Korean Artists 2019: Liquid Glass Sea’ at the MMCA, Gwacheon.
