Jungeun Lee: Silenced Suffering

December 1, 2011 – January 29, 2012
Opening: Saturday, Dec. 10, 6-9pm

New Orleans Photo Alliance
1111 St. Mary St.
New Orleans, LA 70130
504-610-4899
Hours: Sat+Sun 12-4pm and by appt.

In “Silenced Suffering: The Comfort Women Project”, Jungeun Lee metaphorically portrays the approximately two hundred thousand women who were involved in sexual slavery during the Second World War. Since Japan’s defeat, the comfort women have struggled through the physical and emotional consequences of their enslavement. Lee’s work quietly and powerfully evokes their testimonies in order to explore these tragic historic memories.

Jungeun Lee was the recipient of the 2010 PhotoNOLA Review Prize.

“Lee’s project alludes to the strength and fragility of the Korean women who were used as “comfort women” for the Japanese military in WWII. This project does not deal with the descriptive nature of this unfortunate time in these women’s lives, but it is Jungeun Lee’s attempt at an emphathic connection to the emotional torture that these women would have initially experienced and continued to experience throughout their lives. All aspects of the work fit well together.”
– Melanie McWhorter, photo-eye Book Division Manager

Bio
Jungeun Lee was born in South Korea and received a B.E. from Hoseo University in Korea and a MFA in Photography from University of North Texas. During her study at the University of North Texas, Jungeun discovered a piece of Korean history that she previously had not learned. This discovery led to the research and development of “Silenced Suffering: The Comfort Women Project”. She spent the entire 3 years of her graduate career researching and making work about this unknown history. In 2010, she completed her MFA exhibition, “Silenced Suffering”, at 500X Gallery in Dallas. Jungeun was the first place recipient of the 2010 PhotoNOLA Review Prize. She currently lives and works in Dallas, Texas.