Lee Ye Jee,'PRESS THE PAST', 2021 

Artists Note

The shell of desire

Humans like to flaunt. Ornaments, which attach certain symbols of achievement to the bodies of human, are the direct means by which humans can reveal their desires. We have long been creating symbols related to honor, power, affiliation, money, education, and so on. Examples include the spectacular decorations of the Sistine Chapel symbolizing the sublimity of religion, or the coat of arms boasting the authority of an imperial family. Today, these symbols can be found in the buttons of clothes, the insignias of uniforms, or the patterns engraved on various types of certifications. The press technique using the dies is a typical method for making those objects. This method provides continuous production in large quantities, making it suitable to produce objects that display a sense of belonging to a particular group. Also, compared to the casting technique, the press technique enables production even with a small amount of metal, and thus achieves economic efficiency and objective with the same volume but with a lighter weight.

I reprint the shell of desire by taking advantage of the metal die that was used to fulfill the purpose. The act of printing objects in a symbolic language is analogous to spreading metaphorical messages embedded in those objects. In the process, the symbolic content and its role initially produced by the die are broken down and reproduced in an empty form. The authority and meaning of the symbol become overshadowed and turn into an element solely for the surface decoration. The laurel wreath awarded to the marathon winners represents victory, glory, and honor. The laurel tree in university medals designed to incorporate such a meaning no longer acts as a symbol of honor in my work. As it simply indicates a decoration that embodies the plant's leaves, it becomes juxtaposed or blended with other elements to signify a different image. My ornaments, which rearrange the symbols that visualize the object of human envies and bind them together into a bouquet of stories, connect with humans again to form fresh relationships with them.