CHOEN LEE | WHEN I SEE INJUSTICE, I ART IT

CHOEN LEE
WHEN I SEE INJUSTICE, I ART IT

“Storytelling was always vital to me- I can’t help it, coming from a background of cartooning, architecture, and photography. All these disciplines involve observing life around us and processing it into communicable information beautifully.”

“My name is Choen Lee, which sound like the Street Fighter Chun Li. But make no mistake, I am not a video game character.
I would declare myself: Choen Lee is a robot beyond gender. Not he, not she, not they. However, due to the limitation of the English language (and most languages), all and any pronouns are acceptable. I’ve done different things in the creative industry.
My first published work in the 1990s was a cartoon. Later I drowned in the world of architecture and then, almost accidentally, into the world of commercial and editorial photography. All these disciplines trained me to observe the world around me, not just in what they look like but also in their intentions, actions, and meanings beyond the surface level.

I’ve always been drawing all those years, and when the pandemic lockdowns came, baking (yes, sourdough) and drawing were all I did. Friends would introduce me to the world of cryptocurrency, where I’d discover a whole universe (or metaverse) of culture that was initially very strange. I was fascinated and was soon immersed in it, living days that had no nights and days that felt 25 hours long, and I started to make artwork about it.
I realized my sense of identity and perception of reality was changing and has undoubtedly changed. Even the kind of Art I create is changing; for now, I make them to be viewed and consumed in the virtual world (even though they often appear in real-life locations). This is what my art mainly explores: the nature of identity within shifting realities in this interconnected world. I put a lot of emphasis on my artworks’ narrative and storytelling aspects.

Even though I am getting increasingly lost in this other world or reality, I am occasionally aware of what’s happening in the real world and respond to these with the artwork. Basically, when I see bullshit, I call out bullshit. When I see injustice, I ART it. I have now morphed into an alter ego in the digital virtual world. This version of me is like a semi-fictional version of me. This version of me is presented as a robot without gender with a mission to break down old social and gender barriers. This version of me has more courage and is more daring to say things as they are. Some of these works might be politically sensitive. This is also the reason why I cannot reveal what I look like.

My illustration style is influenced by pop culture: manga and comic books. My influences are varied; they are not just painters and illustrators but also writers, film directors, photographers, architects, comedians, musicians, etc. To name a few of them: Akira Kurosawa, Hayao Miyazaki, Stanley Kubrick, Wong Kar Wai, Chris Doyle, Helmut Newton, Tim Walker, Sebastiao Salgado, Alan Moore, Philip K. Dick, Marcel Duchamp, Banksy, and an older cousin who taught me how
to draw cool manga when I was a toddler. I thank you all for your guidance at different stages of my life.

Getting To Know: Choen Lee

Art Market Magazine: Please share the background of your artistic journey. Did you grow up in a creative environment? What led you into the contemporary art field as a professional artist?

Choen Lee: One of my earliest memories of drawing and being in control was when I was copying my older cousin’s drawings as a toddler. He had stacks of manhua/ manga (Chinese and Japanese), and I’d go through those and absorb them and recreate them, and later on, I’d discover American comics and study those too. Naturally, I’d watch a lot of cartoons and movies too. I’d draw on whatever scraps of paper I could find and on my school textbooks. This was my training.
My parents did not see the Art field as significant; with them, I never visited a single art gallery or museum in my childhood. My parents must have been relieved when I showed no interest in learning the piano (for it’s a really expensive piece of furniture). But I was always drawing.
When I was around kindergarten age, one of my artworks was borrowed by my mom’s friend to use as her son’s art contest entry. And her son won the competition. So this person today has a certificate somewhere in his drawer saying he was a talented artist as a child. It made me realize in a young age there are many unethical, greedy people in this world, even though I didn’t have the vocabulary and capacity to put it into coherent thoughts and words.
My first published work was in the 90s, and I think it’s a cartoon piece. After that, I went into the world of architecture and spent some years in the field before accidentally stumbling into the world of editorial and commercial photography. Some of these works won international awards.
Over those years, I’ve never stopped drawing, as drawing, along with writing, is one of the earliest stages to formulate ideas and plan out ideas for shoots and to get the entire team to have a shared vision and goal when executing the shots.
When the pandemic came, I drew even more and was eventually introduced to art-on-the-blockchain and cryptocurrency, and my life has forever been changed, as my work now explores this shift of identity and reality when we are interconnected and immersed into the metaverse. Whatever medium I used for whatever genre, I’d say that my sensibility and sensitivity come through. Whatever I create, narrative and storytelling are essential.

Art Market Magazine: Where your inspiration comes from? Would you say that your Art is influenced by other artists or a specific art field?

Choen Lee: My inspiration comes from consuming a lot of comics and movies in my youth! I am a pop culture nerd.
My illustration technique is shaped by Chinese and Japanese comics early on in my life and by American comics later on. Storytelling was always vital to me- I can’t help it, coming from a background of cartooning, architecture, and photography. All these disciplines involve observing life around us and processing it into communicable information beautifully.
My influences are very jumbled: Film directors, comedians, photographers, cinematographers, writers, illustrators… They all taught me how to look at the world. To appreciate. To decipher.
I’d list names like Stephen Chow, Monty Python, Hayao Miyazaki, Stanley Kubrick, Akira Kurosawa, Quentin Tarantino, Wong Kar Wai + Chris Doyle, Helmut Newton, Richard Avedon, Tim Walker, Banksy, Todd McFarlane, Jim Lee, Jack Kirby, David Mazuchelli, Sergio Aragones, Alan Moore, Philip K. Dick, Arthur C Clarke etc. All as influences. And oh, definitely that older cousin who got me started on this path.
Yea, all are men (says a lot about the creative industry, doesn’t it?). And strangely, I didn’t list a single musician even though music influenced me greatly.

Art Market Magazine: Let’s talk about your unique technique. Please tell us about the entire work process, from the step of the idea until the final outcome.

Choen Lee: For the series of works of Art ranked by the international competition jury as one of the finalists, I have to say that I don’t think there is a unique technique when it comes to the execution. I used to do it a lot like most illustrators: pencil, pen/ brush on paper. I’ve transferred the process to digital, but it’s different these days.
At the start, there’s an idea in my head, and sometimes I write this down. Sometimes, I sketch out the rough visual. Everything starts with a story, and the Art narrates it.

Art Market Magazine: From your personal journey in the art field, what will be your advice to the young artist looking for a way of development?

Choen Lee: Keep pracitising. Keep observing and absorbing all around you. Big, small, loved ones, strangers, comfort food, strange foods. Experience them. Form memories. You will process these, and some may become one of your art expressions.
Most importantly, have a backbone. Sure, be flexible to survive (and there will be times when you really need to decide if you would rather bend and be folded figuratively or literally or do that extra shift in the restaurant just to pay off the bills), but never lose your unique point of view and the sight of who you are.
Your values will change over the years, but you will still be you and never lose that. And you are the you-est you, to paraphrase the famous writer/cartoonist Dr Seuss.

Art Market Magazine: What’s the future hold? Any special exhibitions in the upcoming months?

Choen Lee: Definitely! With the latest years’ developments, art on the blockchain has become increasingly common, so there are also more and more shows involving artworks minted on the blockchain (otherwise known as NFT).
I currently have an artwork showing at Marienplatz in Munich.
In the next few months, I’ll have works of art showing in Barcelona, Bangalore, and Karachi.

See the full article in Art Market Magazine Issue #82