Yu-ri Lee, a plastic artist giving new life to discarded plastic
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- Writer 커뮤니케이션팀
- 보도일자 2022-09-08
“There is no longer a way to deal with the waste generated by COVID-19”
According to the “Korean Social Trends 2020” released by the Statics Korea, the amount of waste such as plastic containers and bags increased significantly as parcel and food deliveries increased rapidly from 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Yu-ri Lee, a student of Sookmyung Women’s University (Department of Painting, ‘19), paid attention to these statistical data and designed a unique type of art called plastic art. In order to help with the problem of recycling waste that has emerged during the COVID-19 era, she introduced an art based on social participation that combines recycling with art. Student Yu-ri Lee, who started the so-called plastic art project, made plastic art pieces based on famous celebrities with the hope that many people would participate in environmental protection, and actively promoted them, and also successfully completed her first solo exhibition at the junk art exhibition.
1. Hello. Please tell us about yourself.
Hello! My name is Yu-ri Lee. I am currently majoring in Korean painting at Sookmyung Women＇s University. At school, I am learning not only Korean painting but also various other arts such as animation, crafts, and installation, and I am a plastic artist outside the school.
2. First of all, congratulations on having your first solo exhibition! How do you feel?
Even though I successfully concluded the solo exhibition, I still can’t believe it. The sudden wave of work and the rapidly increasing schedule before and after the exhibition makes me feel like a rookie idol who just debuted after a long road of training. In fact, rather than feeling like I made my debut as an artist and realized my dream, it seems this is the beginning and it feels like there is still a long way to go. I＇d like to treat myself with a little down time because I’ve been so busy, but I don＇t that’s gonna happen because my next exhibition date has been set already. I＇m really happy though!
3. What is the meaning of “CELEBRITY: Rediscovery of Surplus”, the title of the first solo exhibition you selected for the competition?
“CELEBRITY” is taken from the song “Celebrity” by singer IU. There seemed to be some connection with the theme of my work, and there was also a piece of plastic art that was made with IU as the subject matter, so publicity was also a part of the reason.
The phrase “rediscovery of surplus” was to express the process of plastic becoming a beautiful work of art because my plastic art works were made with used leftover plastic.
4. You expressed the appearance of famous celebrities with plastic, and I am curious as to why you decided to use them as the subject of your work.
I really like BTS, so I always wanted create
an artwork with them as the subject matter someday. My goal was not to just
become a fan, but to “deok-jir (※ Passionately like a certain field and collect
or dig into things related to it).” I decided to express my fandom through my
works in the field of my art major. I wanted to express myself with
experimental materials rather than the ones I use all the time, so I went to
the youth art festival
5. It seems that your interest in the environment is reflected in your works. What motivated you to be particularly interested in climate change and the environment?
My main work is junk art related to the environment, but to be honest, I wasn＇t very interested in the environmental field from the beginning. As I began watching news related to the environment from time to time for educational purposes, I seem to have become interested in the environment little by little as I continued to look for materials that are good for recycling while working on plastic art.
6. What is the most memorable piece of plastic art you have created?
The first plastic art I worked on with “V”, a member of “BTS”, as the subject matter is the most memorable. It＇s the first plastic art I＇ve worked on, so it＇s more meaningful and memorable. Also, it reminds me what I liked the most about “V” among the BTS members when I was working on the piece the at the time. When I look at the work now, the fond emotions I felt about BTS that year and the memories of the concert I went to comes back to me clearly. Also, since it was the first work that I sold and generated income, it seems that my love for the work has grown even more.
7. Do you have a person or theme
that you would like to incorporate into your work through plastic art in the
future?
Until recently, I mainly included popular
celebrities such as idols in my works, but recently I am trying to expand the
scope to include “characters” appearing in various media such as dramas,
movies, webtoons, and animations as plastic art subject matter. While I＇m
working these days, I＇m exposed to a variety of video content through Netflix,
and I think it＇s really good for finding characters that will be the subject of
my next work. To give you a little spoiler, I think the next works will
continue with popular characters from
Interviewed by: Sookmyung Correspondent 21st Class Chae-yun Lee (Department of French Language & Culture, ‘22), Ye-eun Choi (Division of Chinese Language & Literature, ‘21)
Edited by: Office of Communication & PR