Natural Balance: The Sculptural Art of Kun Foon Lee

Description

Natural Balance is a photographic compilation of the artistic works of Canadian sculptor Kun Foon Lee. His meticulously crafted sculptures are composed of various native woods and found natural objects such as pine cones, driftwood and dried wild flowers. This compilation is a sampling of 35 years of experimentations, imagination, and creativity in the form of hand crafted woodwork. The genesis of these ideas originates, in large part, from the natural creatures of the Great White North. We hope you will enjoy this fascinating collection and find it as inspiring as we did.

Kun Foon Lee was born in 1932 in Hong Kong, China, as the second son in a family of six children. He took great personal risk to immigrate with his family across the world to Vancouver, British Columbia, in 1974 to start a new life and provide better education and opportunities for his four children. There, he made his career as a licensed boiler engineer and worked for the Vancouver School Board till he retired. The vastly different cultural climate in Canada, as well as the natural beauty of its mountainous formations and diverse fauna inspired Lee to capture that same undisturbed harmony in art. At the age of 55, he started carving his pieces in wood: yellow cedar for most and hardwood for delicate, finer details (such as the fins of a swimming fish). Lee also incorporates the materials found on his leisurely walks into his art, such as pine-cones, driftwood, or wildflowers. These pieces then are shaped, in a process that can take anywhere from eight to forty hours, to represent the scenes he sees around him through the elements he is surrounded by. These sculptures often feature the surrounding Canadian wildlife; capturing them in wood became a relaxing pastime for Lee. Over the past 35 years, he has created over a thousand sculptures. This book showcases a collection of his most unique pieces. Through the simplistic yet elegant designs of his sculptures, Lee hopes to inspire others to see the world through creative lenses and create art themselves.