Suzy Lee (; born February 9, 1974) is a Korean picture-book illustrator and author. She is critically acclaimed as an artist who explores the pleasures and tensions that lie between reality and fantasy. She is also known for her remarkable achievements in the field of

wordless picture book A wordless picture book is a picture book whose narrative is expressed through the illustrations. Format Wordless picture books, according to Arizona State University professor Frank Serafini, have "visually rendered narratives". The narrative ca ...

s, or silent books. She gained global attention for her three works – ''Mirror'' (2003), ''Wave'' (2008), and ''Shadow'' (2010), known collectively as ''"The Border Trilogy"'' – using the center binding of the pages of a book as a means to create a narrative crossing the boundaries between reality and fantasy. ''Wave'' and ''Shadow'' were respectively named by ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' as Best Illustrated Children's Books of 2008 and 2010. ''Wave'' was also awarded the gold medal for Original Art by the Society of Illustrators in 2008. In 2016, Suzy Lee was shortlisted for the

Hans Christian Andersen Award The Hans Christian Andersen Awards are two literary awards given by the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY), recognising one living author and one living illustrator for their "lasting contribution to children's literature". Th ...

, regarded as the Nobel Prize for children's literature, an award which she received in 2022. Lee has received a number of other prestigious awards from around the world including the FNLIJ Award Luís Jardim for the Best Book without Text in 2008 and the

Boston Globe-Horn Book Award Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and financial center of New England, a region of the Northeastern United States. It has an area of and a ...

for Excellence in Children's Literature in 2013.

Biography

Lee was born and raised in

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

. She received a

Bachelor A bachelor is a man who is not and never has been married.Bachelors are, in Pitt & al.'s phrasing, "men who live independently, outside of their parents' home and other institutional settings, who are neither married nor cohabitating". (). Etymo ...

Fine art In European academic traditions, fine art (or, fine arts) is made primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from popular art, decorative art or applied art, which also either serve some practical function (such as ...

s in Painting from

Seoul National University Seoul National University (SNU; ) is a public university, public research university in Seoul, South Korea. It is one of the SKY (universities), SKY universities and a part of the Flagship Korean National Universities. The university's main c ...

in 1996. She started out her professional career as an illustrator, but she soon became fascinated with picture books upon encountering the world of artists’ books. She decided to pursue graduate studies, receiving her Master's in

Book Art Book Art is a field of art that involves the creation of works that use or refer to the structural and conceptual properties of books. The term is also used to describe works of art produced in this field. These works may contain text, images, or bo ...

s from

Camberwell College of Arts Camberwell College of Arts is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London, a public art and design university in London, England. The college offers further and higher education programmes, including postgraduate and PhD awards. ...

in London, England in 2001. The following year, she published her first book, ''Alice in Wonderland'', which was also her final graduation project. Since then, she has published over thirty books. Lee organized projects such as the leader of the artist collective, ''Vacance'' Project, and illustrating ''Dream of Becoming Water'', a book interpretation of a song by the same title by Korean singer-songwriter

Lucid Fall Jo Yun-suk (; born March 18, 1975), known by the stage name Lucid Fall (), is a South Korean singer-songwriter. He began his music career in 1997 as a member of the band Misoni (), but has been most prolific as a solo artist, having released el ...

Career

Suzy Lee made her debut as a picture-book artist with ''Alice in Wonderland'', which was the final project for her master's program. She participated in the

Bologna Children's Book Fair The Bologna Children's Book Fair or La fiera del libro per ragazzi is the leading professional fair for children's books in the world. Since 1963, it is held yearly for four days in March or April in Bologna, Italy. It is the meeting place for al ...

with a dummy of the book and pitched it to publishers, eventually signing a deal with the Italian publishing house Corraini Edizioni in 2002. ''La Revanche des Lapins'', for which she was selected for the Illustrator's Exhibition at the

in 2002, was published in

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

the following year and recognized as one of "The Most Beautiful Swiss Books." Lee gained attention in the picture-book world for the publication of the series of three books, ''Mirror'' (2003), ''Wave'' (2008), and ''Shadow'' (2010), complemented by ''The Border Trilogy'', a manual to the series sharing the details of her creative process and approach to picture-books. Beginning with her solo exhibition highlighting ''"The Border Trilogy"'' at the Museo d’Arte Moderna di Bologna (MAMBo) in Italy, Suzy Lee has been engaging with readers and audiences across the world through exhibitions and book fairs held in countries including

the United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, Swenden,

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

. In 2013, she illustrated the official poster for the Library of Congress National Book Festival. Later in the same year, she was honored with the

for ''Open This Little'' ''Book''. In 2016, she was shortlisted for the

in recognition of the literary and aesthetic innovation qualities of her works. She received the award in 2022.In 2019, she received the 60th Korean Publishing Culture Award and selected for the IBBY Honour List for ''River,'' a book inspired by a personal story of her dog. She has founded ''Hintoki Press'', an independent publishing house, through which she has directly published experimental works such as ''Sim Cheong'' and ''The Magic Jar''. She also leads the project group, ''Vacance''.

Style

For Suzy Lee, the charm of picture-books lies in their power as a medium to convey the simplest truths in a simple yet refined manner. She uses a wide variety of materials from pen, pencil,

charcoal Charcoal is a lightweight black carbon residue produced by strongly heating wood (or other animal and plant materials) in minimal oxygen to remove all water and volatile constituents. In the traditional version of this pyrolysis process, ca ...

watercolor Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (Commonwealth English; see American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin 'water'), is a painting metho ...

to acrylic, and different artistic practices including

collage Collage (, from the , "to glue" or "to stick together") is a technique of art creation, primarily used in the visual arts, but in music too, by which art results from an assembly of different forms, thus creating a new whole. (Compare with pasti ...

and print-making, depending on the book she is working on. She particularly enjoys using

. Suzy Lee's books often the relationship between fantasy and reality.

Awards

* 2022

Illustration * 2020 Open Book Awards of Best Books Children and Young Adults Category, Taiwan - ''Wave'' *2020 The 60th Korean Publishing Culture Awards for Young People's Literature – ''River'' * 2020 IBBY Honour List – ''River'' * 2016 Shortlisted for the

* 2014

Please Touch Museum The Please Touch Museum is a children's museum located in the Centennial District, Philadelphia, Centennial District of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The museum focuses on teaching children through interactive exhibits and special ...

Annual Book Award, Philadelphia, U.S.A. – ''Open This Little Book'' * 2014 Best Children's Books of the Year, Children's Book Committee at

Bank Street College of Education Bank Street College of Education is a private school and graduate school in New York City. It consists of a graduate-only teacher training college and an independent nursery-through-8th-grade school. In 2020 the graduate school had about 65 ful ...

, U.S.A. – ''Open This Little Book'' * 2013 Picture Book Honor Winner,

Boston Globe–Horn Book Award The ''Boston Globe''–''Horn'' Book Awards are a set of American literary awards conferred by ''The Boston Globe'' and ''The Horn Book Magazine'' annually from 1967. One book is recognized in each of four categories: Fiction and Poetry, Nonficti ...

for Excellence in Children's Literature, U.S.A.- ''Open This Little Book'' * 2010 Best Illustrated Album (Premio Album Ilustrado), El Gremio de Librerías de Madrid, Spain – ''Wave'' * 2010 FNLIJ Award Luís Jardim – The Best Book without Text (Prêmio FNLIJ Luís Jardim – O Melhor Livro de Imagem), FNLIJ (Fundação Nacional do Livro Infantil e Juvenil), Brazil – ''Wave'' * 2010 The Best Illustrated Children's Books, ''

'', U.S.A. – ''Shadow'' * 2008 The Best Illustrated Children's Books, ''

'', U.S.A. – ''Wave'' * 2008 Best Books, Publishers Weekly, U.S.A. – ''Wave'' * 2008 Best Books,

School Library Journal ''School Library Journal'' (''SLJ'') is an American monthly magazine containing reviews and other articles for school librarians, media specialists, and public librarians who work with young people. Articles cover a wide variety of topics, wi ...

, U.S.A. – ''Wave'' * 2008 The Best Books of the Year, Kirkus Review, U.S.A. – ''Wave'' * 2008 Gold Medal, Original Art Award,

Society of Illustrators The Society of Illustrators (SoI) is a professional society based in New York City. It was founded in 1901 to promote the art of illustration and, since 1959, has held an annual exhibition. Since absorbing the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art (M ...

, U.S.A. – ''Wave'' * 2008 Notable Children's Books in the Language Arts, Children's Literature Assembly of the

National Council of Teachers of English The National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) is a United States professional organization dedicated to "improving the teaching and learning of English and the language arts English studies (or simply, English) is an academic discip ...

, U.S.A. – ''The Zoo'' * 2005 The Illustrators Exhibition,

, Italy – ''The Black Bird'' * 2003 The Most Beautiful Swiss Books, Swiss

Federal Office of Culture The Federal Office of Culture (FOC) is an administrative unit of the Federal Department of Home Affairs, based in Bern, Switzerland. The agency has two extensive areas of responsibility: promoting Swiss culture and preserving the country’s c ...

, Switzerland – ''La Revanche des Lapins'' * 2002 The Illustrators Exhibition,

, Italy – ''La Revanche des Lapins''

Works

* 2020 ''Fart Match'' (Hintoki Press) * 2020 ''Hill Over Hill'' (Hintoki Press) * 2019 ''Sim Cheong'' (Hintoki Press) * 2019 ''The Magic Jar'' (Hintoki Press) * 2019 ''The Boy Who Bought the Shade Under the Tree'' (Hintoki Press) * 2018 ''River'' (BIR Publishing Co.) * 2018 ''Lines'' (Chronicle Books) * 2018 ''The Border Trilogy'' (Corraini Edizioni) * 2010 ''Shadow''(Chronicle Books) * 2008 ''Wave'' (Chronicle Books) * 2008 ''My Bright Atelier'' (BIR Publishing Co.) * 2007 ''The Black Bird'' (Gilbut Children Publishing Co.) * 2006 ''Action Korean Alphabet'' (Gilbut Children Publishing Co.) * 2004 ''The Zoo''(BIR Publishing Co.) * 2003 ''Mirror'' (Edizioni Corraini) * 2003 ''La Revanche des Lapins'' (La Joie de Lire) * 2002 ''Alice in Wonderland'' (Corraini Edizioni) *Currently housed in the

Tate Modern Tate Modern is an art gallery in London, housing the United Kingdom's national collection of international Modern art, modern and contemporary art (created from or after 1900). It forms part of the Tate group together with Tate Britain, Tate Live ...

’s Collection of Artist Books (London, U.K.)

Collaborations with other authors

* 2022 ''See You Someday Soon'' with Pat Zietlow Miller (Roaring Brook Press) ISBN 9781250221100 * 2020 ''The Yulu Linen'' with Cao Wenxuan (Bear Books) * 2020 ''Dream of Becoming Wate''r with Lucid Fall (Chungaram Media) * 2017 ''This Beautiful Day'' with Richard Jackson (Atheneum) * 2015 ''Ask Me'' with Bernard Waber (Houghton Mifflin) * 2013 ''Open This Little Book'' by Jesse Klausmeier (Chronicle Books) * 2013 ''Love You, My Baby'' with Mun Hye-jin (BIR Publishing Co.) * 2008 ''Shadow is My Friend'' with Park Jung-Sun (Chondung Books) * 2008 ''Open the Door!'' with Park Jung-Sun (BIR Publishing Co) * 2005 ''The Naked Painters'' with Moon Seung-Yeon (Chondung Books)

References

External links

*
Personal Blog ''"curiouser and curiouser!"'' (egloos.com)

* ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5zzjuVxaCA ''"The Real Reason Why I Want My Children to Love Books'', Sebasi Talk, CBS TV, July 20, 2020* ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M10YmgUTeTE&feature=youtu.be ''"Suzy Lee’s Lines Workshop”,'' Japan Women’s University, February 10, 2019
''“Between Reality and Fantasy – Picturebook Artist Lee Suzy,”'' Arts Avenue,”, Arirang TV, August 4, 2016 (9’25’’-15’54’’)

''"Suzy Lee: 2013 National Book Festival,”'' National Book Festival, Library of Congress, September 22, 2013

''"Grown-ups Read Picture Books: The Picture books of Suzy Lee,”'' C!talk Seoul, June 8, 2013

''"Between the Pages: Illustrated Books and Artists’ Books – A Talk with Suzy Lee,”'' Festivaletteratura, September 11, 2009

''"A Wave of My Own,”'' Festivaletteratura, September 11, 2009

''"Seven Questions Over Breakfast with Suzy Lee,"'' 7 Impossible Things Before Breakfast, August 12, 2008

"Narrative of a Book Artist: Suzy Lee," Behind the Books

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Suzy 1974 births Living people Artists from Seoul Seoul National University alumni South Korean women children's book illustrators South Korean children's book illustrators Hans Christian Andersen Award for Illustration winners