Ye-jee Lee is based in Guri, in her home country of South Korea. Inspired by an encounter with old press machines and metal dies at the German Museum of Technology, she works with the press technique using metal dies collected in the course of her travels, from countries including Egypt, Fiji, and Nepal. Lee repurposes retro metal molds, traditionally used in industrial processes and manufacturing, to press leather and metal. Seeking to do away with stereotypes associated with the die press, she has experimented to draw out the machine’s hidden creative potential, which she develops through her work.
