The landscape of Wando and, by extension, South Korea is a key subject in Lee Choun Hwan's work. Initially working in traditional ink and wash paintings, Lee has increasingly produced acrylic paintings and multimedia works on canvas, using stone powders, paint, and hanji or Korean paper.
Read MoreOften horizontal in orientation, 'The Mood of the Mountains' series depicts well-known mountains in South Korea that the artist himself has climbed. Vertical strokes of acrylic make up the mountain ridges, which fade into lighter shades as they recede into the distance; the undisrupted colour gradient creates evocative and contemplative landscapes. Lee has also incorporated stone powders and hanji into his paintings, adding densely packed textures to works such as The Mood of the Mountain #427 and #558 (both 2021).
'The Moon Jar' series of paintings revolves around the eponymous Korean porcelain that was produced during the Joseon period (1392–1910). Named after its round shape, the porcelain has become a symbol of traditional Korean aesthetics for its simple elegance and lack of decoration and is associated with the virtue of moderation valued among the Korean literati.
In Lee's paintings, the white shape of the moon jar sometimes appears under moonlight and with plum flowers, another culturally potent symbol, connoting spring. While reflective of his longstanding engagement with traditional Korean motifs, the Moon Jar paintings also demonstrate Lee's exploration of form, surface, and colour. The artist contrasts the smooth surface of the moon jar with layered dots of paint in the background of works such as The Moon Jar #186 (2018); in The Moon Jar #811 (2022), he uses short, horizontal strokes of white over dots of vivid colours to create the porcelain.
Form becomes increasingly abstract in the 'Light+Grain' series, in which Lee builds up on strokes of paint in the obangsaek or five traditional Korean colours of white, yellow, red, blue, and black, and paints over them further in a gradient of two to three colours. The underlying colours remain visible in the resulting paintings, such as Light+Grain #206 or #525 (both 2020). The series was inspired by one night in 1989, when Lee observed the moonlight reflecting off the rocks and the waves in his hometown of Wando.
