The Ethereal Simplicity of the Tree Portraits Created By South Korean Artist Myoung Ho Lee Belies the Feats of Engineering needed for their construction

"Why not take the canvas out of the studio and let nature paint on it?"

 

South Korean artist Myoung Ho Lee repeatedly asks himself the question, "what is art?' It is the inspiration for all his work and it was the starting point for the atmospheric Tree series he started back in 2006. "I like walking slowly," he explains. "Then I start to absorb my surroundings as if I am a sponge. As an artist, it is the time when the question 'what is art?' becomes an empty white canvas."

Myoung Ho, who captured trees in South Korea for his first series, Tree and subsequently all over the world for his second, titled Tree... uses the white canvas as an active component in all his portraits. He says, "Why not take the blank canvas out [of the studio] and let nature paint on it? Instead of drawing on canvas, the concept here is to engage the canvas into the real subject." By taking the canvas 'out' and using it as a backdrop to his photographs, Myoung Ho draws attention to the existing, natural forms of art that, in our busy day-to-day lives, are easy to pass by. Trees are his medium of choice because they are so embedded in our everyday environment and by capturing them in this unique way he can bring them to the fore. "There are so many things that exist in this world, each with its own meaning, and I believe there isn't anything more important or less important," he explains. "What I do is find the values of those existences and show them to people."

 

Setting up the portraits is a complex process. Cranes and a large-scale crew are needed to install each bespoke canvas, which is custom made to suit the size of the tree, but are generally in the region of 10 x 20m. The smallest breeze can cause the canvas to ripple so iron rods are inserted at the top and the bottom of the sheet and between eight and 12 crew members hold the ropes attached to the canvas to help keep it in place. A minimum amount of retouching is needed post- shot to remove the supportive materials from the final image.

Masking the work that goes on behind the scenes brings these seemingly simple portraits close to the boundary of what is real and what isn't. In doing so, Myoung Ho prompts opinion and interpretation, and for him that is the most important part of the artistic process. "I think an artist is an examiner who makes a question without an answer," he says. "Whatever my viewers feel and how they respond, I am fully ready to accept."