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“Rabbit (Pastel)” (2023), pigment on resin, 27 x 26 x 42 centimeters. All images © Lee Sangsoo, shared with permission

From Virtual Beginnings, Lee Sangsoo’s Spirited Creatures Emerge in Pristine Resin and Steel

With painstaking attention to detail, Lee Sangsoo (previously) renders minimal lines and colorful facets into spirited rabbits, perky cats, and elegant swans. The Seoul-based artist works with digital imaging tools to create virtual mockups of each sculpture before translating them into 3D-printed resin or stainless steel. The raw material is then coated in pastel hues or natural gradients, bringing to life siamese cats or vivid parrots.

Lee is fascinated by the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the evolving, complex relationship between virtual and physical experiences. He often repeats similar motifs in different colors, playing with the idea of replication and focusing on precision. “As long as people can appreciate and be moved by my ideas and way of expressing them, it doesn’t matter whether they are real or virtual,” he says.

Lee is currently working toward a solo exhibition in the fall and will be unveiling public art projects in Korea, China, and Canada in the coming months. Follow him on Instagram for updates.

a sculpture of a siamese cat in minima, curving forms
“Sitting Siamese Cat” (2024), paint on resin, 35 x 26 x 40 centimeters
a sculpture of a swan in minimal, pastel-colored and cream curving forms
“Swan, Head Turned Sideways” (2023), paint on resin, 60 x 30 x 62 centimeters
a public sculpture of a poodle on a lawn made of minimal, pastel-colored, curving forms
a sculpture of a yellow parrot on a perch, composed of minimal, curving forms
“Yellow Parrot (Hanging)” (2023), pigment on resin, 25 x 23 x 70 centimeters
a sculpture of a stretching brown cat in minimal, curving forms
“Stretching Cat (Latte)” (2024), paint on resin, 50 x 17 x 46 centimeters
a public sculpture on a lawn of a pink flamingo and three hoops of different sizes, composed of minimal, curving forms
the artist Lee Sangsoo stands next to a life-size sculpture of a deer composed of minimal, pastel-colored, curving forms, which standds on a white plinth
The artist with “Deer on the Rock” (2023), urethane paint on stainless steel, 243 x 98 x 238 centimeters
a large swan sculpture in progress in an art studio, made from steel
Work in progress in the artist’s studio

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