Born in Seoul in 1989. She lives and works in Monaco.
She began her studies with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Ceramics at the Seoul National University in South Korea, graduating in 2011, before moving to London where she attained her Master of Arts in Ceramics and Glass from the Royal College of Art in 2016. Lee interned as Assistant Curator at the 6th Gyeonggi International Ceramic Biennale in South Korea in 2011 and continued gaining professional experience during her studies in London, teaching in the ceramics department at Central Saint Martins in 2016 as well as collaborating with the fabric development department at CÉLINE, London. In 2017, Lee was an artist in residence at the Künstlerhaus in Neumünster, Germany. Lee’s ceramics push the boundaries of the medium, exploring vibrant colors and glazes as well as unusual and highly skilled forms and textures. Her approach is conceptual and experimental, as illustrated by the Imaginary Drinks: Memory of the Taste (2016) series, which uses intensely detailed color and shape abstractions to capture the artist’s memories of childhood experiences of taste. Lee’s practice meanders between art, craft, and design and thus, perhaps unsurprisingly, her ceramics have been shown in art galleries and museums as well as in design contexts, such as the London Design Festival in 2016, Milan Design Week in 2017, and numerous exhibitions with Swing Design Gallery. Her work was purchased by KODE contemporary art museum in Bergen, Norway in 2017, as well as the collection in Künstlerhaus Stadttöpferei Neumünster in Germany. Additionally, Lee has collaborated on presentations with Zetter Hotel in London and Airbnb during the Salone del Mobile in Milan, amongst others.
EDUCATION
2011 B.F.A. Ceramics, Department of Craft and Design, Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea
2016 M.A. Ceramics and Glass, Royal College of Art, London
EXHIBITIONS
2010 Graduation show, Seoul National University, Korea
2010 Seoul Design Festival, Coex, Korea
2011 Popping Popping Play Ceramics, Icheon World Ceramic Center, Korea
2012 Seoul Gift Show, Coex, Korea
2012 An’c 4 Craft Art Fair, Hyundai department Store, Korea
2015 Work-in-Progress Show, Royal College of Art Kensington, UK
2015 Ceramic Art London, Lower Gulbenkian Gallery, Royal College of Art, UK
2015 Crafty Fox Market, London Design Festival, UK
2015 Off Centre, Hockney Gallery, Royal College of Art, UK
2015 RCA Christmas Fete, Royal College of Art, UK
2016 Work-in-Progress Show, Royal College of Art Battersea, UK
2016 The Emerging and the Established, Christie’s South Kensington, UK
2016 In Context, RCA Ceramics and glass showcase at Preston Fitzgerald’s House, UK
2016 London Craft Week, RCA Ceramica e vetro presso la casa Sarah Griffin, UK
2016 Show RCA, Degree Show 2016, Royal College of art Battersea, London, UK
2016 Transform Effect, KDCA (Korea Ceramic Design Association), Seoul, Corea
2016 Sala delle Bandiere of the Municipality of Faenza, Piazza del popolo, Faenza, Italy
2016 The 8th Talent Award of the Nassauische Sparkasse, Keramik Museum Westerwald, Germany
2016 Box park Pop-up Show, Shoreditch Design Triangle, London Design Festival, London, Uk
2016 Form and Seek, TENT 2016, London Design Festival, Old Truman Bewery, London, UK
2017 Open to Art, Officine Saffi Gallery, Milano, Italia
2017 BKV preis, Internationale Handwerk Messe Muenchen, Munich, Germany
2017 What means functionality?, Final exhibition and presentation, Kuenstlerhaus Stadttopferei, Neumuenster, Germany
2017 The Zetter Hotel Showcase, Clerkenwell, London, UK
2017 Passeggiata, curated by Martina Mondadori & Cabana Magazine, Casa degli Atellani, Milan design week, Milano, Italy
2017 MATERIALIA, Curated by SWING Design Gallery, Chiesa di Santa Teresa, Benevento, Italy
2018 National Museum of Slovenia, “Ceramics in Focus : Shaping the future”, Ljubljana, Slovenia
2018 Ceramic Art Andenne, “Hybrid : contemporary ceramic exhibition”, Ceramic Biennial, Belgium
2018 Porzellanikon, “Kunst Nacht Selb/ Night of Arts in Selb”, Porcelain Museum Selb, Germany
2018 Manfredi Style, “Aesthetic Visions”, Milan Design Week, Milan, Italy
2018 J.lohmann Gallery, “Collective Design”, New York City, NY, USA
2018 Talente Award, “Handwerk Messe Munich”, Munich, Germany
2018 Puls Contemporary Ceramics, “Ahryun Lee & Wayne Fisher”, Brussel, Belgium
2018 Future lights in Ceramics, “Ambiente”, Frankfurt, Germany
2018 Ceramics and its Dimensions, “Shaping the future of Ceramics”, Bröhan Museum, Berlin, Germany
AWARDS
2018 Finalist, Talente Award, Handwerkskammer für München und Oberbayern, Germany
2017/18 Winner, Future lights in Ceramics, European Ceramic Competition, Porzellanikon, Germany
2017 Finalist, BKV Prize, Bayerischer Kunstgewerbeverein, Munich, Germany
2017 Special Prize by Brera Academy, Open to Art : International Competition for Ceramic Art and Design, Officine Saffi Gallery, Milan, Italy
2016 Finalist, Talent award of Nassauische Sparkasse, Keramikmuseum Westerwald, Germany
2016 Finalist, Ceramic and Colours Award, Passepartout Faenza Cultural Association, Faenza, Italy
2016 Shorlisted, Innovation RCA, Royal College of Art, London, UK
2010 President Prize, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea
2010 Excellent Prize, Korea Craft Culture Association, Iksan, Korea
COLLECTIONS
2018 PURO Hotel, Krakow, Poland
2017 KODE : Bergen Kunst Museum, Bergen, Norway
2017 Swing Design Gallery, Benevento, Italy
2016 Celine UK, London, UK
2010 MOA Museum, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea