Hye Rim Lee

A REAR WINDOW PROJECT

In White Rose (2022), Hye Rim Lee introduces a 3-dimensional animation-based dreamscape to reposition the light and darkness in life and death. After the passing of Lee’s sister, the 3-dimensional character TOKI has been a symbol of shifting identities and spirituality. In Korea, black is symbolic of death and lost love, while white reflects love, purity, and new beginnings. Evolved from the Black Rose Series (2014-2021), White Rose catalogues a personal transformation between grief and healing. Lee intends to create a sense of overwhelming emotion, evoked by the reflection and refraction of the animation’s texture through glass, by placing a large yellow diamond in the background. The angles and facets of the diamond symbolise the reflective nature of our lives. An enlightened soul, the diamond refracts its light from the inside out, serving as a beacon to the outer world. The song in White Rose has been developed alongside Ladyfish, providing a dreamy, pensive mood to complement the wider narrative.

Traversing digital, sculptural and performance platforms, Korean Aotearoa New Zealand artist Hye Rim Lee explores themes of identity, grief and loss, hope, and spirituality, and considers the societal role of digital technology within her practice. Lee has exhibited extensively throughout Aotearoa and worldwide. Her work sits within significant national and international collections including The Chartwell Collection, Te Papa Tongarewa, the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery and the Seoul Museum of Art. Based in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, Lee was previously a lecturer at Whitecliffe College of Arts and Design and has lived between New York and Seoul. She holds a BFA from the Elam School of Fine Arts, University of Auckland Waipapa Taumata Rau and a BM from Ewha Womens University, Seoul.

White Rose is part of Dunedin Public Art Gallery’s Rear Window Moving Image Programme, which showcases moving image works by contemporary Aotearoa New Zealand and overseas artists.