The head of the glass program at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, since 2005, Jiyong Lee is pictured working in his studio.
GLASS Quarterly Hot Sheet: What are you working on?
Jiyong Lee: I see my work as a process of query and research. My finished work can be compared to meditative note-taking based on my investigations. Recently, my interests have widened to include a variety of microscopic images of organisms which are inspiring my sculptural work.
My “Segmentation” series is based, in part, on images found in biology textbooks and laboratories. Some of these images are of actual microscopic embryos and cells, and some are results of investigative processes such as DNA gel electrophoresis. This series is inspired by my fascination with cell division and its journey of evolution that starts from a single cell, goes through a million divisions, and then becomes life. I’ve been interested in biology and medicine since I was a young boy. When my wife and I had our son, I wanted to re-read everything to understand how life starts from the very beginning. As I began reading, I found some great microscopic images of cell and embryo segmentation and decided I wanted to involve that in my work.
Jiyong Lee, DNA electrophoresis, 2010. Cut, color-laminated, and carved optical crystal. H 9 1/2, W 11 1/2, D 5 1/2 in.
DNA electrophoresis (2010) is one of my newest works inspired by a recent visit to one of my colleague’s laboratory in the microbiology department at SIU Carbondale to see the actual DNA electrophoresis process. The electrophoresis process is relatively simple, yet the experiment he was working on is quite complex. I found the images from his experiment beautiful.
GLASS: What artwork have you experienced recently that has moved you, and got you thinking about your own work?
Jiyong: I’ve seen some work from Luke Jerram, a British artist, who has made a series of microbiological-themed work with glass. I also was inspired by an exhibition of medical microscopic images captured by doctors in Korea. The drawings of Ernst Haeckel — a German biologist, naturalist, philosopher, physician, and artist — are some of my favorites.
GLASS: Do you have any upcoming exhibitions you can talk about?
Jiyong: Through March 27th, I have an exhibition up at Duane Reed Gallery, in St. Louis, Missouri, which is only about two hours away from my Carbondale studio and residence. Duane Reed will also be showing some of my work at SOFA New York in April. Morgan Contemporary Glass Gallery in Pittsburgh, will include some of my work in their upcoming group exhibition in June. In August, the New Harmony Gallery of Contemporary Art in New Harmony, Indiana will present a group exhibition that will include the work of Amy Rueffert (currently the artist in residence at SIUC), Carmen Lozar, Matthew Urban, as well as my own work.