Changwon Lee

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BIOGRAPHY

 I was born in Seosan-si, Chungcheongnam-do, Republic of Korea.  I studied in Seoul since middle school. In 1975 I was graduated in precision mechanical engineering from Hongik University. In 1982 graduated in Mechanical Eng. of the graduate school of Eng. Yonsei Unv. In 1995 Ph.D [Mechanical Engineering] from the Hongik University.

 I worked at various times ; government officer, researcher of some national research institute, managing director of some org. etc.

 I spent some years in the field of planting trees after my retirement, But I was wondering about what to do next and the rest of my life.  I finally decided to abandon it and dedicate myself to seek my original love.

 I have spent childhood between the mountains and blue coast of the western sea. The colors of my native home, esp. a flaming sunset will have a roll determining on my envy to express me by painting. In fact this need existed for a long time but had never come true, furthermore I had no previous knowledge of painting. Anyway,  I decided on to dash into this activity though painting was not innate sense for me.

It is only at the beginning of 2011 ,arriving on the eve of my 61st  that I started by a curious coincidence ,to paint in oils attended yearly course of oil class at the school of Institute of fine art and design education, Hongik University. I was lucky to meet Dong su Lee(Ph. D) who is a Professor of that school and to become his pupil. He helped me to find my way on this new path. Oil painting just getting my feet wet has renewed my dreariness after retirement and became an essential part of my life. Since then, painting with me everyday as far as I remember.

From Chang won Lee 2017 'Artist's notes'..........       

Life is a kind of test bed that weaves the life story of each individual. Art also thinks that artists are a large group of testbands that weave, share and develop the expression of "art form" in their physical and mental representation.

Even in a variety of variables, such as numerous heterogeneous phenomena, media and techniques, it is the artist's own initiative to go through his life story, so that the artist becomes his own narrator on the test bench until the end of his life .
There is a habit of looking back again after I openned the exhibition twice.Review the themes of past exhibitions;In the first exhibition, why can not we be satisfied with the visual phenomenon itself in the representation of object? Do I represent the inner expression lively invisible parts every object has? In the second exhibition, The coexistence of the past and the present is invisible, but how do I express what  to  feel it? In the third exhibition, Even if the time and space that dominate the representation of object are the past, present or future, Can I recombine them on the basis of my free will and realistic sensation? In the fourth exhibition,An imaging that continually arise in the mental and ordinary life is a visual-spatial memory. And refined physical and mental representation based on it is enlightenment. Sensory functions and human perception implement personal Mindscape constantly repeating through the mutual transmission between a  visuospatial storing medium and enlightenment. Above these subjects in question became the subtitle of the Exhibition in each year.
Through this process, From the 4th individual exhibition has been to integrate all the processes that have been created through division, recombination, and imaginary expression of the neuron track through objets,and  I have converged into Trans-realism, I released it.

One of the new additions to the 5th to 6th individual exhibition this year is digital painting, which has been working for a while. I believe that digital painting is not different from painting to perform the internal representation by the stream of mind. At first, I focused on digital painting, and recently switched to trans digital painting (later symbol TRD).

It takes a certain amount of time to create a work, either Realism or Abstract. Then, I wondered how to express the mental representation that appears in the micro time. Putting such a representation on the canvas is a contradiction in itself, and it won’t be easy practically . It is doubtful that we would be satisfied if we repeat to paint on the canvas an internal representation that is so variable over time and put them in a shed. So what I tried new was to paint the image of the moment, then digitalize the moment, and then repeat the process of drawing another moment image. It is quite a creative work that we can taste a great enjoyment. In the end, the  process of actually painting on canvas or paper but  do not keep on canvas, only digital image. A series of this working process, I coined the term "Trans-Digital Painting (TRD)".
 . The advantage of TRD is that images can be saved and printed easily when needed, and it is also fun to go back in time and see the images of every moment back by using streaming technology.

The following essential remarks appear repeatedly in the heading of my individual exhibitions;"My painting is a creative journey to put small recollections from the past into a backpack, get on the wagon of the present, and leave for the future."
I believe that the creative journey is through a process of Trans-reality. Creative Trans-realism is a journey wherein the artist uses an endless stream from his conscious and subconscious beyond everyday life, through past life and mental imagery. This endless journey of consciousness is infinitely sustainable and brings artistic freedom and peace.