LEE JeoungIn is a Korean assemblage artist and craftsman who transforms and incorporates pieces of discarded wood into visually dynamic artworks that celebrate resilience and renewal. Lee creates his playful and vibrant assemblages by first hand-painting painstaking details onto individual wood chips and scraps, transfiguring each piece of debris into a brightly colored, wide-eyed fish; he then arranges the painted fish—at times numbering in the hundreds or thousands—into frenzied phalanxes that leap across the canvas or mesmerizing mandalas. Lee began making his salvage creations following his diagnosis with a rare chronic illness; he sees the the humble fish swimming across the unremitting expanse of the ocean as a symbol of vitality and tenacity, and hopes that—by giving detritus new life as art—he can restore the life force that lay dormant in the discarded wood and rechannel it not only into his own life but that of the viewer. 

LEE JeoungIn graduated from the University of Seoul in 1994. He has received numerous prestigious awards , including the 2021 Gangnam Prize of Excellence in Art, the 2020 award of distinction by the Korean Minister of Public Administration and Security, and the 2015 Won Art Awards by Korea Arts Newspaper. His works have been exhibited in many solo and group shows, including those at the Maru Art Center in Seoul; Artfield Gallery in Seoul; and Cafore Cultural Space in Yangpyeong. He has also participated in a great number of art fairs in Korea and abroad, including the LA Art Show, New York Asian Art Week, and the Miami Art Fair.