Original Woodblock Painting "Mokupuni Home" by Seung Lee

Hawaii artist Seung Lee draws from his love of the beauty and people of Hawaii and his Asian heritage to create intricate art using a centuries old technique of reductive woodcut.

Seung uses one artboard surface to create a multi-colored woodcut.  His method involves multiple stages of carving away the non-printed surface on woodblocks. At each stage of carving, he heavily paints the woodblock and presses it onto the artboard surface.  Then, he carves away more of the wood and repeats the imprinting.  With each layer, he coats the woodblock with more paint and adds more depth to the artboard surface.

Seung’s artwork contains up to 20 different layers of woodblocks to create a complete image.

Each woodblock is a unique and original work of art.  These are NOT digital reproductions or giclees of the same piece of art. Seung individually presses his woodblocks on each piece of art, making each woodblock art work unique and one-of-a-kind.

“My art always reflects the interplay of my subjects to tell a story. Each object in my woodblocks has meaning and purpose.  Flowers reflect happiness. Fish symbolize good luck and prosperity. An apple reflects a bountiful harvest.  Groups of items in 7 or 12 reflect time through days of the week or months of the year. Hot and cold colors together reveal the balance of opposites, yin-yang, creating harmony.

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