Bio

Ellee SY Lee is a Korean-Canadian, Toronto-based painter creating imaginary, semi-abstract works that explore diverse visual experiences. She immigrated to Canada as a teenager and discovered her love for art-making during that time. She felt that painting, in particular, was a free form to have a profound connection to her subconscious and emotional state. She received her BFA from OCAD University in 2006 and pursued abstract art for several years. However, her personal circumstances led her to return to Korea, where she paused her art for nearly a decade. Upon returning to Canada, she rekindled her passion for painting and has been participating in art fairs and exhibitions since 2023.

Artist Statement

The central theme of my work is the dynamic flow of life and nature, reflecting the fluidity and vibrancy of existence within an interconnected world. I seek to capture the beauty and harmony of life’s continuous movement through painting that blurs the boundaries between the seen and unseen, evoking a sense of mysticism, dreaminess, and reflection. I take inspiration from personal memories, nature, world views, and art history - including Eastern traditional landscape, Post-impressionism, Les Nabis, Spiritual abstraction, and Post-pop landscape.

My imaginary paintings oscillate between abstraction and representation, embracing naturalness, simplicity, and spontaneity. Nature motifs such as mountains, waters, and trees recur throughout to embody the natural rhythms and cycles. In organic and intuitive ways, I orchestrate layers of simplified shapes and lines, bold colours, shifting perspectives, mark-making, flatness, and texture, reveling in the surprises that unfold during the process.

I’m intrigued by the strange aspect of painting which imparts a sense of connectivity and sensibility. I find painting can console the individual soul and offer a vicarious escape and temporary respite from a fatiguing and monotonous world.

Series of Works

1. Innerscape Series: 

This ‘Innerscape’ series is inspired by the Korean traditional landscape, “San Su Hwa”, which depicts mountains and waters with simple lines and spontaneous mark-making. The artists of this tradition often created their works based on imagination rather than direct observation, drawing upon their inner visions, emotions, philosophical reflections, and spiritual connection to nature. I approach this series in the same way, creating purely imaginary landscapes that convey deeper meanings and emotional resonance.  

2. The Way Things Are Series:

This ‘The Way Things Are’ series is inspired by the Eastern philosophical teaching that accepting the nature of things and all phenomena as they are in the moment helps reduce suffering. Painting can be a meditative practice where interventions of the irregular and uncontrolled are allowed to discover new forms and feel a sense of immediacy.

3. Walking With You Series:

The ‘Walking With You’ series is inspired by my memories of the places where I’ve taken walks with my family, capturing the beautiful scenery found in city parks or on trips. Through painting, I reconfigure these scenes using photo references as a starting point, blending perspective, colors, lines, and shapes.