Using repeated sand kernels and wave patterns, Lee wants to symbolically express that shiny moments of happiness are results of shattered dreams from the burdens of our daily lives. A grand rocky mountain erodes and eventually becomes a tiny sand kernel after weathering all the lashes from nature, and a high rocky cliff that we had to raise our heads to look up to eventually breaks down into small particles and lies underneath us after facing incessant waves. Nevertheless, sand kernels still glitter beautifully under the sun when its time comes. Likewise, even though the high goals and dreams we have been chasing after become shattered from all the challenges from our daily lives, we can still find precious and grateful moments to appreciate when we pay close attention to each part of our daily lives. Even the smallest part of our daily life should not be taken lightly for even a single sand kernel that may not be as significant in the endless beach can be gathered to equal the weight of a mountain, and our small daily moments will ultimately add up to become one’s life.
Innumerable appearances of circles in Lee’s paintings show the artist’s belief that the circle is the most complete and perfect form which encompasses harmony and reincarnation. The natural phenomena where a rigid cliff breaks down and becomes a round particle of sand, and the fact that all living subjects derive from one round cell all adds onto Lee’s confirmation of the circle’s completeness. Symmetrical structure setting of two artworks as a set in Lee’s work was done purposefully to represent co-existence of ‘one’ and the identical ‘other one’ which might exist at the same time in a parallel universe. In use of colors, white is used to denote hope from self-sacrifice while blue denotes artist’s ideal dream.
