June 2016

Bicultural Identity
Slip casting porcelain, 120” x 96” 
by Haejung Lee

Fifty years ago, eight young artists frustrated by the fact that Louisiana’s capital city offered little or no audience for contemporary art decided to do something about it, and Baton Rouge Gallery was born. Today, the gallery serves as an exhibition space and learning center for fifty-six artist members. One of them is Korean-American ceramic artist Haejung Lee who, since moving to the United States in 2005, has created pieces that explore her evolving cultural identity. 

Lee’s multi-faceted installation presents eighty-two interlocking structures, each depicting an ancient or a modern symbol. “In order to understand and get used to a new environment one only needs time,” she wrote in an email. “I wanted to integrate the traditions of my Korean culture with aspects of western culture in order to illustrate how both cultures are a part of me. I am in the constant process of figuring out my identity as a Korean living in America. I want my work to illustrate that I am, in time, being transferred from one point to another.”

Making tiles mingling traditional symbols and recognizable brand logos representing each country was Lee’s way of illustrating the influence of both cultures. “There are three layered tiles that rely upon each other to be held up,” she wrote. “So it shows how things are all related and connected. My concept was that people will find the symbols out in my tiles like a hide and seek.”

Haejung Lee will exhibit next at the gallery in a three-artist show scheduled for May, 2017. haejunglee.com or on Facebook at haejungleeceramics. 

Read our complete June 2016 issue here.