LEE Kuo Wei
LEE Kuo-Wei was born in 1973. He received an MFA in Ceramics Art at the Graduate Institute of Applied Arts in Tainan National University of the Arts in 2006. He is a lecturer at Fooyin University and the founder for North Nine Studio. He was the resident artist at the Anderson Ranch Arts Center, CO, USA, Missouri State University, MO, USA, and Kio-a-tou Sugar Refinery, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
- Location USA / Colorado
- Year of the Grant 2008
- Residency Anderson Ranch Arts Center
- Work Memory is an Invisible Line
- Personal Website LEE Kuo Wei's Personal Website
To me, making art is part of living. After a hard day of work, going to the studio to make art is a relaxing communication with myself, an indispensable daily ritual. Generally speaking, making art and having a regular job are like two competing teams at the either side of a tug-of-war rope. They are pulling on each other’s ends with full force, attempting to win the other over. I know in the midst of this game, however, that having a job is the necessary tool for making a living, whereas making art is the ritual that cleanses my soul.
Finding a balance between my job and creating art is one of the difficulties that I currently face. After I graduated from Tainan National University of the Arts in 2006, I found a regular job, but also set up a studio of my own, marking the beginning of another stage in my art career. Even though I participated in several group shows after my graduation, I was still distracted by my full-time job, which took up the majority of my time. I had almost no opportunities to sort out my thoughts, talk with myself, and face my own art.
Fortunately, I received support from the Council for Cultural Affairs to participate in a residency program in 2008. I was able to temporarily leave the familiar places, as well as the trivial things in my life, and focus on art again. My one-month artist residency at Anderson Ranch Arts Center became the ideal time for me to recharge my batteries. I learned a lot from the artistic exchanges I made with artists from other countries, and these exchanges provided materials for my future work. After I returned to Taiwan, I found that my experiences during my residency shed light onto my dilemma of striking a balance between having a job and creating art. I started to actively prepare for a solo exhibition scheduled for the following year.
Through the continuous process of creation, I was able to connect my work with my experience in the United States, thus finding a clearer direction for my artistic development. In addition, I discovered other possibilities within the ceramic medium.