Meet the Artist // Jay Lee

Can you give us an introduction about yourself and your background?

I started painting about seven years ago – it started as a weekend bonding activity with my daughter. It was a sort of a creative outlet for both of us. And then it turned into a more serious job, as you can tell. I started a nomadic practice about three and a half years ago. I just continued experimenting from there, with new mediums based on location, and as inspirations came up.

How old is your daughter?

She’s 14 now. So when we started, she was about eight. And we started painting on the largest canvases we could get, because everybody told us, ‘Oh, you gotta start small.’ So we did the exact opposite.

We were just using rather faster-to-dry mediums, like acrylic, and a little bit of watercolors. It was mostly painting on large scale canvases. Often, we would paint on the floor like action painting. So it was very playful, a lot of movement with the body, with the flow of energy and emotions. Later, we realized that making art sparks better conversation – and better energy – among people.

As you’re settling into Berlin, do you think your artistic practice is changing at all? How do you find yourself inspired by the city versus nature – by landscapes and all of that?

It’s always different depending on locations. I’ve been collecting a lot of flowers and plants, little weird things, like hairy balls and pumpkin on a stick. I found it very funny and wanted to use them.

I was in Istanbul for two and a half months before coming here… it’s always about connecting back to the previous locations and then finding connections and reconnections throughout the journey. I don’t have to stick to only Berlin stories, because everything I experienced and explored in past locations just adds up in the end. I was in Leipzig last year in about the same period, from October until December, so coming back to Germany brings all the memories back. It’s the seasonal changes, like falling leaves. The days get shorter. I find beauty in the transient moments and love having ephemeral elements in my art.

Berlin has a lot of diverse dynamics in terms of small venues, and a lot of funky exhibitions, non-commercial, experimental. I like it very much. I find it somewhat relatable to the scenes I experienced in New York this year. It’s a busy city, so much is happening. It’s very similar to New York but also different and unique.

I’ve heard that.

Still, [Berlin is] homey. Very cozy and chill, compared to New York.

Yeah, a city for artists.

Definitely.

Is this [various materials around the studio] a big thing for your creative process? Picking things up that you see and putting them on the wall for inspiration? Is that your typical process or do you have other ones as well?

Usually, I’ll just put everything on the floor. But because I’m in this living-and-working studio situation, I have this feeling that I can’t really work on the floor as much as I usually do. So I’m putting more things on the wall and on the desks.

This time I’m trying to work with a more delicate, smaller scale. Aesthetically, I don’t know what I will do eventually, but I think in terms of size and materials, I want something very delicate. Something tangible, in your hand and then even smaller. In terms of materials, I’m exploring options like glass, casting. Or I may end up making large-scale paintings in the end… who knows.

I’m collecting a lot of seasonal and local materials and trying to put them together. Glass feels very dominant in this room, because of the street view that I have. I find lots of glasses here… big windows, glass bottles, glass candles, et cetera. I realized I use a lot of candles whenever I come to Germany, especially in this season. It makes the room cozy.

So as far as being a nomadic artist … after being an artist for six or seven years, you have only been nomadic for three. How did that develop, and what led to that decision?

First and foremost, I always wanted to explore the world. So when my daughter grew up a bit, and became a teenager, I thought it was my chance to go travel longer-term. I got a job opportunity at a tech company in the US, and thought, okay, I’ll take it. Because it was fully remote, I realized I could spend a lot of spare time doing what I love, which is art and also travel. I decided to just travel across the country – mostly California first, like San Francisco, San Diego, and then extended my reach to Mexico.

Being in Mexico, I realized I really love doing a lot of experimental installations and learning about local materials and local crafts. So it wasn’t only about paintings anymore, on those framed canvases. The curators there pushed me to go further into three-dimensional works. And it suited me really well. So that’s when I started doing more site-specific installation work researching local materials, often natural, employing tree branches and rocks and found objects.

I wanted to expand my reach to Europe. Germany was the first country in Europe that I came to practice art, and I really liked it. I decided to split my time into one-third in America, one-third in Europe, mostly around Germany, and one-third in Korea and nearby countries, going back to my family and my daughter.

I feel like I’m going through a lot of transitions in my life now. I’m thinking I’ll stretch it a little bit further maybe. Stay experimental, at least for the next couple of years. I’m considering Latin America, going further south, going to the jungle and mountains. But I always plan to come back to the major cities like New York or Berlin. I’ve never been to Paris to show my works. So maybe Paris.

I always leave the summer and winter for my daughter. This year, Istanbul was the place that I went to with her, and we stayed in a residency together. We put on a solo show. It was really awesome to work with her, travel with her and then tell the story through an exhibition.

So she still makes art?

Yeah, she makes great art. And sometimes she makes much better things. I’m feeling intimidated by this little young lady! But it’s so awesome because I got it from my mom, this crafty side. I feel very proud of this genetic heritage that we’re getting from all these great women.

You have some long-term plans set up, but are some of the residencies sort of spontaneous?

Yeah, I’m planning on doing this crazy jumping from one to another, at least for a couple of years. And then trying to find a place to settle in. It could be Berlin. Very likely. It has a reasonable living cost, I think, considering everything.

Were you always drawn to art?

My educational background is in international politics and relations, and I wanted to be a diplomat. I feel doing art is connecting people, understanding culture, so it almost feels like diplomatic action to me, and I think it’s somewhat connected to my core interests and endless curiosity. When I was a teenager, I wanted to be an artist. And then when I got older, I wanted to be a diplomat and travel around the world, so I’m kind of mixing the both. Once I’m trying to settle in, I feel more pressure to know what suits me best for sure. I don’t feel like I need to jump into one option right now. I’m enjoying this experimental and highly productive period. Moving forward, I feel more free to incorporate AI, maybe coding, whatever medium and skills I can utilize at my disposal. I’m still expanding and exploring, rather than just trying to push or limit myself to focus on one thing.

But everything I make are aligned and they share the same vein. I enjoy this art making process in my moving studios.

When you move on from this residency, what do you think you’ll take with you from Berlin?

People. It’s always people, I think. It’s quite funny how small the world is. Even on the first day at GlogauAIR, at the exhibition opening we had here, I bumped into a person that worked at the residency I did last year. I also invited a friend who decided to live here – she’s from Norway, and she’s living here now. We participated in the same group show in Copenhagen, so the world is really, really small.

And there’s this very unique experience of living in this building. It’s my first residency living with this many people. So this is very new.

I can imagine.

Yeah – this is very new, but still I’m feeling like, okay, this is a life that I chose to experience. It’s all about the new experiences. And then also, really figuring out in which environment I thrive. We’ll figure it out. But, you know, that’ll come up naturally.