“Green Cone Diatom.” All images © Jiyong Lee, shared with permission
From a young age, artist and educator () was fascinated with biological processes. He grew up paging through medical illustration books, amazed by cells and how life starts with the proliferation of just one. Lee’s ongoing Segmentation series is an ode to cell division and the obscurities of life science that can only be viewed with a microscope.
Based in Carbondale, Illinois—where he is an associate professor and head of the glass program at Southern Illinois University—Lee creates segmented forms with solid glass. Rather than working with hot techniques such as blowing or casting, the artist utilizes coldworking methods as he cuts and reassembles thick portions of the material with colored adhesive in a laminating process.
Finishing the surface with grinding and polishing, a partially translucent exterior both obscures and reveals parts of what lies within each fragile structure. Evoking compositions similar to embryonic configurations, Lee explains, “I think how life starts with a cell is amazing. A cell divides millions of times, and each part of the cell and embryo knows exactly what they are supposed to become in the body. With the material and techniques that I use, I create a sculptural glass object that has biomorphic or geometric forms that have complex internal structures inside.”
The artist is working toward an exhibition at in St. Louis from September 6 through October 12, and his more recent pieces are on view at in Seattle. Follow Lee on and see his for more.
“Mitosis”
“Green Ovoid Diatom”
“Multi-color Cube”
“Green Tetrahedron Diatome”
Green Parallelepiped Segmentation””
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