Sasha Yungju Lee AOCA MFA

Brief bio:

Sasha Yungju Lee was born and raised in Seoul, South Korea and moved to Toronto, Canada in 1970. She graduated from Ontario College of Art and spent her final year at the OCA New York City Off-Campus Program in Manhattan. In subsequent years, Sasha lived and worked in New York City as a special effects modelmaker, set designer and art director in the film and television industry, where she contributed to several award-winning films and TV shows. In 1990, Sasha moved to San Francisco where she attended the Academy of Art College and focused on Computer Arts. She has exhibited her art widely in both America and Canada; Sasha continues to serve as an art consultant and advisor to many arts and cultural institutions throughout the Bay Area.

Additionally, since moving to the west coast 17 years ago, she has been tapping into her life-long passion: Eastern philosophy and healing modalities. This pursuit eventually led her to the fascinating study of Chinese Metaphysics and Feng Shui. This journey has greatly influenced her artmaking and her life.


Artist's statement:

My work was developed out of my experience of displacement of place and self. Being born in South Korea, educated in Canada and living in the U.S., I am filtering the world through the lens of a Korean-Canadian-American woman. This multi-cultural identity has given me a particular perspective concerning issues of borders and belongings. My Oh Canada series was created to speak to a global concern of currency being the basis of cultural identity.

An incentive of my image-making is to present a conceptual construct which addresses relationships between cultural values and the role of the individual. It is still questionable to me what the American perspective of the global economy is, even after living in the United States for half of my life and becoming a permanent resident.

The underlying notion integral to my artwork is a disconnection from one particular place or culture and life within a conglomeration of cultures; my strength has been an ability to be adaptable, living between borders.

www.SashaLeeConsultants.com