Yuni Lee’s iconic series of works has emerged as a cartographic puzzle, a kaleidoscope of cities around the world that relocates the audience to a stimulating third realm.

Per Yuni’s calculations, a unit is a house simplified in pentagonal form, while a mass refers to a visual assemblage of units harmonized through lines, colors and planes. These elements, integral to her “IconB” project, embark on a transcendental journey, shape-shifting freely between ethereal domains, all the while revealing glimpses of Yuni’s life and emotional landscape over time.

In the shadow of the mountain, Yuni found herself captivated by the distinctive contours of the terrain, and there, nestled like the vibrant Lego blocks of her childhood, lay a cluster of diminutive houses, vertically stacked. This residential assortment took form as a mass within her creative psyche, and through vivid flights of thought, she orchestrated the units to pirouette on command. Suddenly, these dynamic structures commingled with the phantasms of Pegasus, the audacity of icarus, and the child-like innocence of Peter Pan, all converging in a mesmerizing urban choreography.

Further inspired by Wassily Kandinsky’s “Circles in a Circle,” Philip Reeve’s “the Hungry City,” and Miyazaki Hayao’s “Howl’s Moving Castle,” Yuni christened these captivating moving parts, “Icon B.”  Along the corridors of memory and amidst the landmarks of her past, Yuni’s units inspire us to explore and see the world in quintets of color like never before.

Icon U11 - Cairo (2021). Mixed Media on Canvas. 45.5 x 53cm.

Icon B20 - Beirut (2019). Acrylic on Canvas. 90.9 x 72.7cm.

Icon B9 - Brussels (2018). Acrylic on Canvas. 162.2 x 130.3cm.

Icon F10 - Espana (2021). Mixed Media on Canvas. 35 x 27.5cm.

Icon B40 - Seoul (2020). Mixed Media on Canvas. 73 x 61cm.

Icon B19 - Oslo (2019). Acrylic on Canvas. 90.9 x 72.7cm.

Discover more of Yuni’s works in Issue 2 of our magazine!