Gyuhan Lee’s Art and Furniture Are Expressions of His Taste

Gyuhan Lee is a South Korean artist who likes to make things according to his personal tastes. If one were to look at his well-known creations like the McDonald’s Paper Bag Lamps or his furniture crafted from recycled Nike packaging, many would assume him an artist with a penchant for upcycling.

In truth, all the materials adapted into his pieces merely derive from his everyday life. From the cherry blossoms on Seokchon Lake Road, he saw every spring in his neighborhood, the manhole covers he passes on his way to the train station to his favorite Nike sneakers and fast food chains, Lee hunts from fragments of his daily life and transforms them into work. After all, Gyuhan Lee’s works are about him and the things he likes.

Nike H Chair

Gyuhan Lee: I’m very much a Virgil Abloh kid. I think everyone around my age was influenced by him. From his attitude, work ethic to the way he presented his creations, all of which have greatly impacted me as well. In homage to him, I made this chair using shoeboxes from his Nike collaborations. I’m unsure if Virgil ever knew of my existence during his lifetime, but I would’ve been honored to show him my work. When I found out about his death, I was despondent and ambivalent. If an opportunity arises in the future, I’d love to use his works for a tribute project or even an exhibition. This is the reason why I’ve kept this piece with me instead of selling it.

2023 Edition: McDonalds’ Paper Bag Lamp 2-1

GL: I love all my work, but if I had to pick one that means the most to me, it would be the McDonald’s Paper Bag Lamp series. Most people become acquainted with my work through this after all. It’s a contemporary and pop-art-like take on traditional Korean Hanji papercraft, a technique that I had to learn from an artisan. I applied glue to the McDonald’s packaging and folded it, then it was combined with a sheet of Hanji into a single piece of paper. Just like the Nike shoebox series, I used paper with iconic branding. This piece also led me to an opportunity where I got to collaborate with Gucci – it’s a personal highlight.

Thailand Edition: McDonald’s Paper Bag Lighting 4-1

GL: This year marks Hello Kitty’s 50th anniversary, so I made this piece to commemorate the celebration since Hello Kitty is my favorite character. The materials I used for this come from a limited-edition Hello Kitty packaging I found in Thailand. To me, McDonald’s packaging is always charming and fun, the designs also vary slightly from country to country. In Milan for instance, the “M” logo is actually green. Whereas, if we look at brands like Nike, their packaging is the same everywhere.

Hermès Paper Architecture 4-1

GL: This lamp is crafted from Hermès’ oil-blotting paper. I follow a “repetition and balance” philosophy for my creative work, it’s something that I observed from architecture, which is also one of my key sources of inspiration. This piece specifically references the Hermès store in Ginza, which I saw in person during my Tokyo trip. I instinctively took a photo of the building then, thinking maybe it could be used for creative work one day. When Hermès’ released its oil-blotting paper last year, it instantly reminded me of the glass windows at their Ginza store. In essence, this piece can be viewed as a miniature version of the store building.

Kitty Craft Folding Fan

GL: I made this fan using the lining from a Hello Kitty x Nike Air Presto shoebox. I entrusted a fan craftsman in Jeonju to create the framework in the same style as traditional Korean Hapjukseon hand fans. I love using really recognizable designs and motifs from globally known brands like McDonald’s, Nike and Hello Kitty – it’s a visual language that everyone understands, consumes and is easily accessible worldwide. I’ve also been collecting Apple products lately, specifically the iPhone that could potentially be used as a project in the near future.

GL: I love one-dimensional things and always feel the need to materialize my thoughts immediately. When an idea comes to me, I’ll quickly draw it out and proceed to make paper prototypes. This is basically what nurtured my habit of collecting all sorts of random stuff – you never know what could be used for the next project. With materials always being readily available, I know I can dive right into testing and prototyping whenever an idea comes by.

These days, inspiration tends to kick in when I do origami. I used to always make my models by gluing and connecting bits of paper. But now, I’m enjoying the process of developing new techniques and methods through the experimentation of paper folding.