Interviewer: Deena Jasmine (Chikkmagaluru, Karnataka, India)

Editor: Pooja Vishwanathan (Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh, India)

Lee Me-kyeong bends memory into form, creating visuals that linger long after the first glance.

Some places disappear before we realize their value. Lee Me-kyeoung holds onto what time leaves behind. Through her lines, absence becomes memory.

​Originating from Seoul, Lee Me-Kyeoung is an artist who turns her attention to everyday spaces that often pass unnoticed. Through patience and careful observation, she documents neighborhood stores and ordinary settings that hold deep personal and collective memories. Her work does not chase spectacle. Instead, it invites connection, asking viewers to slow down and feel the quiet emotional weight carried by familiar places. Her drawings are built through precise pen work and soft, gentle color, capturing each space with remarkable sensitivity. Every detail feels deliberate.

Worn-out signboards, piles of items, and remnants of daily life all serve to suggest that this is a place that once had its own special characteristics, thanks to the people and things that gave it life at one time. Each piece is a silent reminiscence of afternoons, cool and most wretchedly beautiful mornings. It is also a testament to warmth, a time when human presence was still valued in an ever-evolving world.

​In this interview, we explore Lee Me-kyeoung’s artistic journey and the memories that refine and inspire her work, giving insight into how observation, nostalgia, and tenderness merge in her art.

Could you tell us about yourself and how you began your journey as an artist?

I’m Lee Me – kyeoung, an artist working in South Korea. I’ve been drawing since I was young, and majored in Western painting at an art high school and an art university. I’ve always been ready to draw, and drawing gave me hope for life.

What first drew you to everyday neighborhood spaces and small stores as subjects for your art?

After getting married right out of college of fine arts, moving from the city to the country, and having two kids, many things changed in my life. At that time, I had many worries about artwork, and it was not easy to draw while raising children. Then, I came across an old store in the neighborhood by chance. This store brought back memories of my childhood, and I was inspired to paint this beautifully dilapidated store.

To work at home with my kids, I decided to use ink pens, which are less toxic than oil paints. It took me about two months to complete my first small store drawing, which was a joyful experience. This work comforted me during a difficult time with marriage and parenting. That’s how my connection with these small, old stores began.

​After this encounter with the Gwan-eum-ri store in 1997, I suddenly realized that the shops I thought would always be there were closing and disappearing. Feeling sad, I resolved to capture them in my paintings before they all disappeared and only remained in my memories. Since then, I have been working on these small, old shop-themed paintings, and so far, I have painted about 500 small-store paintings over a period of 28 years.

What do you usually notice first when you arrive at a place you want to draw?

I pay attention to what feels lived in. It might be a crooked signboard, a low wooden bench, a mailbox, a bicycle, a stack of crates, or a plant someone watered every morning. I notice the light and the trees. These traces of care reveal the relationship between people and the space. I also listen to the silence, to the rhythm of the street, to the feeling the place gives me. That emotional impression becomes the foundation of the drawing.

Your drawings are known for precise pen lines and soft colors. How did your style come about, and what do you try to express through it?

To fill a large canvas with a 0.1mm nib in ink, it is clear that it is a labor-intensive task. It is also a disadvantage of pen painting. The pen allows me to be exact, to honor every detail without rushing. The softness of the colors balances that precision. I want the viewer to feel as though they are remembering something rather than simply looking at it. The reason I continue my hard work method is because I feel joy when the appearance of the old store is revealed through the densely stacked pen lines.

You include small details like signboards, objects, and traces of daily life. Why are these elements important to your work?

Because the retro feel is well expressed.

How much of your own memories and personal experiences influence your drawings?

An artist’s life is synonymous with his or her work of art. My lived experiences and memories are directly connected to my work. The shops I paint and their owners are also records of contemporary life.

Could you tell us about the exhibitions you’ve done and which ones have been the most memorable for you?

I’ve had 15th solo exhibitions and 50th group exhibitions. While all of them were valuable, my first exhibition in 2007 remains the most memorable.

What challenges have come up in your art, and how did you handle them?

This year marks the 28th year since the project began. Most of the owners of the stores they drew in the past have passed away, and most of the stores are closed. It was a pity that I couldn’t do that even if I wanted to show you the picture of the store. A few years ago, I visited the stores that are still open, drew pictures, and published a book containing the stories of the store owners. I don’t know when the store will close, but I diligently visited the store, drew pictures, and wrote because I wanted to show it to the store owners.

As soon as the book was finally released after three years, I sent the book to the owners along with a handwritten letter of thanks. The owners were comforted by the presence of so many store owners in similar situations, and when they looked back on the hard days when they had to open their stores without taking a day off to teach and eat and live their children, they said, “I’m glad that I’m being praised for living faithfully and diligently throughout my life, and thank you for beautifully depicting the heyday of the store where I spent all my youth together.”

Each person has a memory related to a small store. While looking at the paintings of the small store in the exhibition hall or through a book, people bring out the time they have forgotten, talk about it with the person who has been with them for a long time, and travel through time, feeling that the worries, worries, and worries are nothing. In this way, I am comforted by recalling the time that has passed through the strength and leisure to live today.

Is there any artwork or place that has stayed with you emotionally after you finished it?

Whenever I have time, I go on a trip to the store. When I meet an old store while wandering through the alleys, I get permission from the owner and take pictures of the store’s materials from various angles. And ask the store owner what kind of tree the store is in front of the cut-down store, as the road expands, how old the store building has been doing business here, and how much the landscape has changed from now on. After hearing about the long life of the store and the store owner through interviews, I came to sympathize with the memories together. After returning to the studio and sketching the old appearance of the store, for example, changing it to the old roof and reviving the tree I saw in the past, and recalling the best days of the small store that would have shone the most.

Re-create by referring to the photos of the materials you have taken.

How do you hope viewers feel or reflect when they experience your work?

Each person has a memory related to a small store. While looking at the paintings of the small store in the exhibition hall or through a book, people bring out the time they have forgotten, talk about it with the person who has been with them for a long time, and travel through time, feeling that the worries, worries, and worries are nothing. In this way, I am comforted by recalling the time that has passed through the strength and leisure to live today.

Are there any new projects or directions you’re looking forward to in your art?

The stores I draw are old stores that are 40 to 100 years old. As a result, it is a friendly space like a family that will always welcome villagers and those who visit the village when they go there, and they are aging together. Now, in my hometown, the store that used to be full of sweet snacks when I was young has disappeared, but when I meet an old store in an unfamiliar neighborhood alleyway, I think of myself as a child who was happy with just one candy. A small store is like a store of everything that sells everything you need, from children to adults, in a small space. Villagers sit down low wooden bench lay a yellow linoeum talk about this and that, and children gather as a playground.

The front of the store is always busy with people and is an indispensable place in the village. It is not just buying and selling things, but the joys, sorrows, and stories are there in the hard lives of people as long as we have been together for a long time. As cities develop and develop, it is difficult to find old stores anymore. It’s a pity, if not great, it would be nice to value old things. These days, there are also small stores in many countries around the world found through travel. I want to communicate with people from other countries about the stories of small stores I want to keep and remember. I am comforted by the shops I visit and leave as pictures today.

Do you have a message to encourage people who aspire to become a visual artist?

Through my work, I hope people will look at old things affectionately and think they are worth keeping. I was drawn by the beauty of an old and old store that no one was paying attention to, and I learned the attitude of living in the world by watching the life of the store owner living silently and diligently. I want to say that our daily lives, which are small and small, are valuable. Happiness is not far away. We are happy when we value my life and do our best.

Once again, we would like to express our heartfelt gratitude for your precious time and for sharing insights about your journey. Thank you so much. On behalf of the entire team at Hallyuism, we wish you all the best for your future and lots of love from India!

We hope you all loved reading this interview as much as we loved conducting it. Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.