Born in South Korea in 1988, Grace Eunchong Lee received her BFA from Otis College of Art and Design in 2014 and currently lives and works in Los Angeles. Often working with the concept of the Monad, her recent practice explores linear internal states and the process of compressing and expanding them using overlapping, repetitive pen strokes. The use of a larger sense of scale on a small format also emphasizes a personal doorway into an expansive, contemplative place.
What does it mean to make drawings, especially over other art forms?
Drawing, for me, holds a kind of quiet immediacy more akin to journaling where there’s a shorter, more intuitive pathway from the mind to the hand in expressing an idea. It allows me to enter a flow state much more quickly than with other art forms I’ve experienced.
What kind(s) of rituals are embedded in your drawing practice?
In this series, I worked in two distinct phases. The first was an exercise in trust: making quick, instinctive decisions without overthinking. The second was an exercise in patience—carrying out those decisions with longer, consistent effort. It was a practice in mastering the two different paces, a rhythm between intuition and endurance.
In what ways does Los Angeles influence (or not) your approach to drawing?
As a transplant, I began to notice how my thoughts and feelings would shift dramatically depending on where I was geographically within the greater Los Angeles area. The city’s intricate layering of culture, class, race, and especially spirituality was a kind of ongoing culture shock—one that continued to expand the longer I lived here. It gave me a profound sense of permission in regard to what I wanted to explore in my own work.