Memento Mori marks the first institutional exhibition by the Los Angeles based artist Suhn Lee (b. 1983, Los Angeles) whose practice synthesizes ceramics and textiles. Drawn to the meditative and process-driven nature of these materials, Lee’s sculptures externalize the psychological experiences of anxiety, perfectionism, and grief. Informed by her Korean American heritage, the artist presents a series of sculptures that she describes as “creatures”: small to medium-sized ceramics armored with beadwork, sequins, and fabric. Their abstracted, geometric forms are inspired by ten symbols of longevity and prosperity derived from various Asian cultures, like turtles, clouds, and mushrooms.
Lee’s repetition-driven practice of stitching and adhering or shaping and firing clay becomes a process akin to a physical mantra of transmuting pain whose effects cultivate reverence for the mundane. “Remember you must die,” the dialectical expression behind the latin phrase that titles this exhibition mirrors Lee’s artistic practice of indexing life’s challenges as relics or tokens akin to evidence of a life well lived.
Suhn Lee: Memento Mori is curated by LAMAG Curatorial Assistant, Samantha Alexis Manuel with LAMAG curator, Hugo Cervantes.
In celebration of the gallery’s 70th year anniversary, LAMAG revisited its popular Open Call exhibition in 2023-2024, featuring 350 artists living and/or working in Southern California. In lieu of the traditional Best in Show cash prize, LAMAG awarded participating artist Suhn Lee with the gallery’s project space to develop an exhibition.
Suhn Lee (b. 1989) is a Los Angeles based artist with a focus in ceramics and textiles. Her work is heavily influenced by her Korean American upbringing and explores her culture’s obsession with image and overachievement. At the core of her practice is a psychological examination of time, anxiety, and self worth in conjunction with a reverence for the present moment. The slow nature of her work is, in part, an act of silent rebellion against society’s preoccupation with productivity, efficiency, and status.
She received a B.A. in Communications from UC San Diego and graduated Cum Laude from Southwestern Law School. She has a legal background in Intellectual Property licensing and experience in Fashion Buying and Merchandising. She has recently exhibited at Craft Contemporary, Los Angeles; Space Ten Gallery, Hawthorne; Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions’s (LACE) Art Benefit; LH Horton Jr Gallery, Stockton; and completed residencies at the Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts and Haystack Mountain School of Crafts in Maine.
Suhn Lee currently teaches ceramics at Otis College of Art and Design.
To access the digital Gallery Guide, please click below. Gallery Guide copies are also available in the gallery.
To access the digital Educator’s Guide, please click below.
As part of Suhn Lee: Memento Mori, visitors are invited to participate in Stitching Grief, Folding Memories, a quiet, drop-in art-making space that reflects themes of memory, grief, and transformation. Designed to be meditative and open-ended, this program encourages visitors, at all ages and walks of life, to take part at their own pace—whether for a few minutes or a longer stay.
The artist will be present periodically to provide demonstrations and guidance on two reflective activities:
Embroidered Memories
Use thread, beads, and fabric to create small embroidered pieces within embroidery hoops. Choose from patterned guides or design freely. These small patches of remembrance will become part of a collaborative textile work by the artist.
Origami Notes
Write a note on the back of origami paper to someone you’ve lost—through death, distance, or time. Notes will be collected in a box and later folded by the artist into cranes, with fragments of the writing visible but obscured, preserving both privacy and emotion in form.
This is a self-guided, introspective space open to all. Materials will be provided.
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