JINA LEE - The many and the one

The many and the one

This very personal work is inspired by a simple undergraduate exercise in 2003 when I was studying sculpture at the Korean National University of Cultural Heritage back in South Korea. I was asked to draw five dots of increasing size on paper, from which I began to ponder the nature of existence.

I started a tiny dot with a very thin black pen, then picked up a bigger pen for the second dot. The third dot was even bigger. Then for the last one, I realised that I was in fact drawing a big black circle. But when I looked at that circle from far away, that became a dot again. Just as a little dot becomes a circle, every single moment becomes a day, then years, and finally becomes me. So too every step that I take is also precious.

A small dot can grow into a large circle, just as a single moment can evolve into a lifetime. Each face in this sculpture represents a different aspect of myself, a different moment in time. Yet, when viewed from a distance, the individual faces merge into a unified whole.