Check out Agnes Lee’s Artwork

Today we’d like to introduce you to Agnes Lee.

Agnes, we’d love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today both personally and as an artist.
I was born and raised in the Bay Area by Korean immigrants who owned a restaurant. I was constantly drawing as a kid, and most of my childhood drawings are preserved on paper placemats.

While I loved drawing, I didn’t really think it was a possible career for me. I tried to study engineering, but it just wasn’t for me. I was so unhappy, and I just wanted to draw. I eventually switched majors, but it wasn’t until after I graduated that I decided that I had to go to art school to get the education I needed.

I applied and was accepted to Art Center College of Design in 2010, with a focus on editorial illustration. Prior to Art Center, I didn’t know much about art. I learned so much there, and I met a lot of great mentors and friends. It was a tough three years, but it was really worth it.

After graduation, I had a terrific fellowship at Chronicle Books in San Francisco and was fortunate to move on to positions at Airbnb and Facebook after. From there, I wanted to try my hand at freelancing and moved to New York. I lasted about a year when I started working for The New York Times as an Art Director.

We’d love to hear more about your art. What do you do you do and why and what do you hope others will take away from your work?
My work is mainly black and white, primarily ink, graphite, and lately, some grease pencil. My style is pretty simple; I’m not very detail oriented as I find myself getting too fussy and the drawing too overworked. I also think of myself as an impatient person, so I don’t prefer to use color unless asked. As a result, my process is pretty low-fi. I often draw on scraps of paper as I don’t want my work to feel precious (I also often throw away most of my work). I scan and clean up in Photoshop, sometimes stitching things together, but mostly just cleaning up smudges.

A lot of things influence me, but a lot of my work is driven by my desire to tell stories and I often draw things from my everyday life. I love the narrative form and the challenges that pacing and editing can have on a story. It’s a unique sense of control that’s fun to experiment with.

I hope when people view my work they can relate to it in some way (currently I’m drawing a lot of ultimate frisbee related things so I might be hitting a smaller audience…). It’s a powerful feeling to read or watch or see something and think, “Yes, I get that too.”

Do current events, local or global, affect your work and what you are focused on?
I don’t think artist roles have changed that much. I think our ability to see what’s being produced has though, given the current technology. The world is a lot smaller now, and we can consume a lot more.

I keep up with current events, but I find my work is not as strongly influenced by them.

Do you have any events or exhibitions coming up? Where would one go to see more of your work? How can people support you and your artwork?
You can see my work on my website, but I admit it needs a huge update. You can follow me on Instagram which is a lot more current.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.ahjlee.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/ahjleee

Image Credit:
Agnes Lee

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