Collected Animals-Earrings

sterling silver, white copper, leather

30x30x7 mm

I am working with the press technique using collected metal dies from different counties.
Main idea of my work is pressing leather or metal, using useless retro metal molds in a different way of typical use. I used to think that shaping materials using a press was done in the industrial process or that it was suitable for only manufacturing the uniform and boring goods. However, the more I experiment it the more I could find out different ways to use it for creation. I tried to do away with stereotypes of method of the press using dies and discover hidden creativity of the machine that only it can be developed through my own work.

Materials that are printed using a die with a press will acquire a structure and condition suitable to be worked into ornaments. The resulting material is light and economical because its hollowness reduces the weight and amount of the materials required. In addition, flexible materials such as leather, metal mesh, thin plates, and thin lines also offer durability. Embracing these advantages, I intended to elicit a partial differentiation in texture in the midst of the rhythmic movement and uniformity. The unpredictable contraction and expansion of the metal surface achieved by the press technique not only captures various visual effects but also reveals the condition that had existed before the completion of the object, which evokes the unfamiliar childhood of a familiar object.

Artist Bio:
Ye-jee Lee was born in 1984 in South Korea. Her major at the University was German Language and Literature. In her last year of University, she started learning metalwork to make creative jewelry. She used to travel a lot around the world, such as Egypt, Fiji Island, Nepal, and others. She was interested in jewelry from those exotic countries and decided to make her own extraordinary jewelry.
Ye-jee Lee presses symbols of humans’ desires into sheet metal using collected dies from different countries to make her jewelry. She participated in various exhibitions and international fairs after she graduated from Kookmin Graduate School, majoring in Metalcraft & Jewellery in 2014. Her jewelry was presented at fairs such as MAD in New York City, Sieraad in Amsterdam, COLLECT in London, IHM in Munich, JOYA in Barcelona, and others. Also, she won the 3rd BKV-Prize in 2015 and was selected for Talente 2018. She is not only a jeweler but also a lecturer at a college in Korea.