Lee Chae

Lee Chae (b. 1989, Seoul) is a Korean artist whose abstract paintings explore cycles of transformation through a process of repetition, erasure, and renewal. Working primarily with oil on canvas, he builds and removes layers of pigment to create meditative surfaces that capture both presence and absence—traces of time inscribed through gesture.

While his visual language draws on the organic rhythms of growth and decay found in nature, his focus lies in the act of painting itself as a means of reflection. Through patient layering, Lee transforms the canvas into a field of slow accumulation, where emotion, time, and material converge. His practice resonates with the philosophical underpinnings of Dansaekhwa, emphasizing materiality and process, yet extends beyond tradition to engage with contemporary abstraction’s ongoing dialogue between perception and experience.

His work has been exhibited widely across Asia—in Seoul, Beijing, and Taipei—and further afield in London. His exhibitions include Wind Flower (OKNP, Seoul, 2025), Boundless Forms and Colors (Whitestone Gallery, Beijing, 2024), The Color Blue, (Whitestone Gallery, Seoul, 2024), Melody Blue (Whitestone Gallery, Taipei, 2024), Stories of Serenity (Han Collection, London, 2022), and Brushstrokes that Stole Nature (Superior Gallery, Seoul, 2025). His practice has also been presented at major art fairs such as ART021 Beijing, KIAF Seoul, Art Busan and Art Taipei. Lee’s works are held in public and corporate collections, including the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA) – Art Bank, Seoul Metropolitan Government Museum Division, Lotte Hotel World, and LF Maestro collection, among others.