Suncheon's Suzy Lee illustration exhibition captures imaginations of children and adults

The exhibition is designed to shed light on the world of illustrator Lee Suzy who won the prestigious Hans Christian Andersen Award for lifetime achievement in illustrating children’s books in 2022.

On the Stage is part of the exhibition where visitors can see various characters from illustrator Lee Suzy’s books. [HONG Ji-YU]

Suzy Lee [JOONGANG ILBO]

SUNCHEON — On one scorching summer day, three children compete with each other to see who can throw their water balloons the furthest. Of the three kids, the smallest one pitches a balloon with all his might. Colorful balloons are scattered around on the ground. Water is being sprayed from the balloons and the whole world turns blue.

This is one of the illustrations exhibition attendees can see when they visit the “Summer Theater Suzy Lee Exhibition" held at the Suncheon Picture Book Library, located in South Jeolla. The exhibition is designed to shed light on the world of illustrator Suzy Lee who won the prestigious Hans Christian Andersen Award for lifetime achievement in illustrating children’s books in 2022. The award is often dubbed the Nobel Prize for children’s books. Lee was the first Korean to win the award.

Lee’s original drawings, a large strip of art print that stretches about 25 meters (82 feet), murals, animated films and dummy books are on display.

“Summer Theater Suzy Lee Exhibition” is held at Suncheon Picture Book Library, located in South Jeolla. [HONG Ji-YU]

Lee expresses children’s movements dynamically by mixing different materials such as paper collages and using various pencils including oil pastels. [SUZY LEE]

The "Once Upon a Time" section greets visitors first and shows how Lee’s imagination has reinterpreted some traditional Korean folk tales. Lee’s imagination runs wild in the series called “White Porcelain Opposites.” A dragon is trapped in a celadon in the illustration titled “Imprisoned,” but the creature is released and then soars into the sky in another drawing called “Released.” Lee got the inspiration for the series from some selected antonyms.

"Children as Raindrops" is where people can take a closer look at the world of Lee’s work. Original drawings from the book “Summer,” published in 2021, make up the section. Lee reportedly worked on the book after she listened to Antonio Vivaldi’s “Summer” from “The Four Seasons.”

In the book “Summer,” children welcome and enjoy summer in every possible way. They spray water into the air and then the water becomes a rainbow. Lee draws children with oil pastels on the collage of colored papers to express the dynamic movements of the kids. Since the illustration vividly depicts children frolicking in the water, it bursts with life.

In one section of the exhibition, the book “Dream of Becoming Water,” printed in 2020, is reproduced as a long strip of art print, which is about 25 meters long. A boy swims in the blue watercolor. He lets his body float along the current and swims from the river to the ocean until he becomes water. The boy goes up to the sky and then falls onto the ground as a raindrop. He soaks the ground and becomes a bird.

Lee’s rough sketches [HONG Ji-YU]

An illustration from Lee’s book “Summer” published in 2021 [BIRYONGSO]

"Four Tables" resembles Lee’s work studio, adorned with some of her rough sketches.

The puppet play titled “The Owner of the Shade,” based on Lee’s illustration book “The Shade Tree” (2023) is staged once on weekdays and twice on weekends.

The second floor is designed for young visitors so that they can make shadows using characters from Lee’s books. All of Lee’s books are available to read on the first floor.

The exhibition runs through Sept. 22.

BY HONG Ji-YU [kjdculture@joongang.co.kr]