When Seoul’s Subways Meet Seurat: Yoora Lee Paints the Digital Haze
A bride’s veil shimmers, subway riders blur behind metal bars, and cell phones glow like tiny moons—these are the scenes Yoora Lee conjures in her paintings. Born in Seoul in 1990, Lee’s work captures the strange poetry of modern life, where digital devices are ever-present but true connection feels just out of reach.
Her signature style, a soft-focus reminiscent of analog TV, sets her apart from the slick world of 21st-century tech she depicts. Lee draws inspiration from Korean dramas, French masterpieces, and snapshots from her own life, weaving together eras and influences. In one painting, she reimagines Seurat’s famous parkgoers as Seoul festival crowds, their phones and sneakers grounding them firmly in the present.
Lee’s art explores the irony of being surrounded yet solitary, together but alone—her figures lost in thought, their faces often turned away or absorbed in screens. The result is a gentle, haunting portrait of longing in the digital age, where nostalgia and now blur at the edges.
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