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Seung Lee is a distinguished Korean-American contemporary artist and a Professor of Art at Long Island University Post. With a career spanning over 40 years, his powerful paintings, drawings, and large-scale installations have been extensively exhibited across the globe, from the US to Italy, France, Germany, China, and Korea.
A recipient of numerous accolades, including the “Best International Korean Artist” award, Seung Lee’s work consistently deals with the manipulation of space to provide the viewer with an opportunity to share in a vision of environmental and social reflection. For the past decade and a half, his subject matter has evolved, recently shifting from the spiritual Kodama trees to the profound presence of bamboo.
Inside the Studio: A Curated Chaos
Printique traveled out to Long Island, New York, to see Seung in action in his giant, renovated studio. The space is a living, breathing time capsule of memories and relics: from a signed Pelé poster and a collection of vintage typewriters in the far corner to a piano, hundreds of bottle caps, and vibrant canvases draping the walls to the floors. Despite housing all these fascinating mementos, the studio still feels organized—a curated chaos. Between the colorful paintings and the various items, visiting the space felt like walking through an ISpy book.
For an artist like Seung Lee, whose life’s work is about creating a dialogue that urges reflection, the print process is not a final step—it is the destination. It ensures that the story, the struggle, and the resilience captured in his studio and reflected by the bamboo, endure for generations, becoming a shared, tangible memory for the community.
The Therapeutic Power of Bamboo
The transition to bamboo was both philosophical and intensely personal. When the pandemic hit, Seung Lee’s new studio on the North Fork of Eastern Long Island was shrouded in a massive overgrowth of the plant. His struggle to make art during that difficult time manifested in physical labor—exercising “bamboo management” for many days. This led him to create a dedicated space for meditation and artwork.
For Seung Lee, the bamboo is a direct reflection of his personal journey and Korean heritage:
“Bamboo represents resilience to me. I grew up with it all over in Korea; people used it to build ladders, shelter, and rafts. I spent most of COVID chopping it down and laying the bricks to create this space. It’s strength teaches us to stand upright in this difficult time. It’s flexibility teaches us to adapt to the hard circumstances and spring back after experiencing adversity.”
The combination of these virtues is a roadmap for finding balance, making the bamboo a powerful symbol of strength, flexibility, and health that permeates his new work.
The importance of believing in yourself as a creative
Seung shared his earliest memories of art-making, recalling his time as a third-grader being recognized in an outdoor art competition. That acknowledgment immediately gave him a feeling of confidence and identity.
“As human beings, we seek approval from others, especially the younger folks who are still just developing their self-worth,” Seung commented.
He later recalled an artist residency in Italy, where he saw the works of the Old Masters in the chapels and museums. Seeing the formal, hyperrealistic creations of landscapes and figures made him realize he wanted to pursue something far different in the art world.
“I realized that kind of art had already been done,” he explained. “I wanted to try something different that required my own perspective, not just the work that comes from formal training.”
From there, he ventured on to work with mixed media, collage, sculpture, and photography—exploring anything that creatively called to him.
Why We Print: Reflecting on a decade of work in a custom Hard Cover Photo Book.
The concept of permanence took on a new meaning when we surprised Seung with a demonstration: two identical pieces of his artwork, one printed on warm, rustic Wood and the other on cool, sharp Metal. His reaction was pure astonishment. The difference between the two pieces—though originating from the same digital file—was dramatic. He was genuinely surprised by how the material selection didn’t just display the art; it completely reinvented the piece, giving it an entirely new mood, texture, and dimension.
When asked which was his favorite, Seung replied by saying neither. He couldn’t choose, noting that each material had its own story to tell and uniquely recreated the piece.
The Wood print made the work feel more organic and earthy, perfectly feeding into the natural, structural way his art feels. Conversely, the Metal print made the notes of collage and bright flickers of mark-making stand out in a glassy, luminous way, lending a sharp, beautiful brilliance to the piece. For Seung, the material selection didn’t just display the art; it completely reinvented the piece, giving it an entirely new mood, texture, and dimension.
The last piece of the print puzzle was the Custom Layflat Hardcover Photo Book, filled with a decade’s worth of his national and international shows. When asked about his choices to create a book about his past exhibitions, Seung replied that he wanted a dedicated way to remember the milestones in his career. He particularly loves that the Layflat design allows him to span one image across both pages, ensuring viewers can really get the whole feeling of the space and the large-scale installations he designs.
Seung Lee’s dedication to permanence extends beyond his artistic subject matter and into his philosophy on community. In an age of rapid consumption, he emphasizes the importance of tactile objects in preserving memory and human connection.
This deep value is why the final output of his art—the printed piece—is so critical, echoing the power of a family photo album:
“In a fast moving society, we tend to lose sight of what is community, and what is family. Having photographs brings me back to the olden days when we used to sit together and look through photos, laugh together and remember, to call each other on the phone and really talk. Society is missing that lots of the time now. A photo Album reflects on a moment in time that cannot be replicated, moments in my career I’v almost forgotten about until they are remembered in the pages.”
For an artist like Seung Lee, whose life’s work is about creating a dialogue that urges reflection, the print process is not a final step—it is the destination. It ensures that the story, the struggle, and the resilience captured in his studio and reflected by the bamboo, endure for generations, becoming a shared, tangible memory for the community.
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