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Artist Jyhling Lee said there was something special about creating a public sculpture in the region where she grew up.
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October 24, 2021 • October 24, 2021 • 3 minutes read • 27 comments London’s latest public art is a stylized interpretation of the forests and city skyline by Jyhling Lee, who grew up in Ingersoll. It faces one of the city’s newest towers, Tricar’s Azure Condo Building in downtown. (Derek Ruttan/The London Free Press)
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Artist Jyhling Lee said there was something special about creating a public sculpture in the region where she grew up.
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Lee’s SITELINES was unveiled in front of Tricar Developments’ new Azure condominiums in central London last week. Tricar funded the play is located near the northwest corner of Talbot Street and Dufferin Avenuebut it is owned and maintained by the town hall.
SITELINES is influenced by London’s image as a forest city, but also by the city’s development.
“The treetop and treeline inspiration was one of the guiding principles in my mind, but it also addresses the location and the new condominium development,” Lee said. “The city is growing and taller buildings characterize its urban fabric, so that the city’s skyline also flows into the concept.”
Artist Jyhling Lee and her daughter Ren Lee-McMaster display Lee’s treetop-inspired sculpture SITELINES in front of Tricar Developments’ new Azure condominiums at Talbot Street and Dufferin Avenue in central London. t tower over it now. (Photo by Figureground Studio)
Lee grew up in Ingersoll and her parents ran a food stall called Rice Box in Covent Garden Market for around 20 years before selling the business four years ago and retiring to St Marys.
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She said she enjoys exploring the areas surrounding her projects, walking and observing the natural and built environment, which she incorporates into her work.
“For me it was a project that tried to bridge the natural world, the urban world and the cultural heritage that seems to be part of this area,” said the Ingersoll District Secondary School graduate. “It went really well. I’ve tried to address the development, I’ve tried to acknowledge the treetops of the city and I’ve tried to address the beautiful embellishment of the historic architecture in the area.”
Art was Lee’s passion growing up and London and Ingersoll were her turf.
“I loved all the subjects in school,” she said. “Art was one of my favorite subjects, but it wasn’t the area my parents thought was the brightest. So I studied architecture (at Waterloo University) and became an architect.
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“What’s so fantastic is that I’ve been able to refocus on art practice and do some significant (public art) projects across Canada.”
Lee, who now lives two hours east of Toronto in Prince Edward County, teaches part-time interior design at Ryerson University and is expecting her second child next month.
Your company answered a call for proposals London Arts Council in June 2018, and the sculpture was officially unveiled on Friday.
To be able to bring a public work of art to the city and share it with the people she grew up with “was very meaningful and meaningful,” she said.
“I got a lot of feedback from high school friends who were like, ‘Yeah, let’s look at that,'” she said.
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Introducing SITELINES, a new public artwork located outside of Azure Condominiums created by artist Jyhling Lee. SITELINES is a sculptural canopy and new landmark that captures the essence of London and is inspired by the nickname ‘Forest City’.
More: https://t.co/VgNGlCFiBj pic.twitter.com/KARyg6Y1GL
— City of London (@CityofLdnOnt) October 15, 2021
Over the past 10 years since founding her practice, figureground studios Lee has switched from architecture.
“I’ve shifted from creating buildings to the public (art) sphere,” she said. “Now I mainly work on sculptures and integrated projects in public space.”
Although Lee’s inspiration came from the city’s trees and architecture, both old and new, she is excited to hear how others take up her sculpture.
“I don’t tell people what to see in the artwork,” she said. “I really hope it’s a work that people can bring their imaginative interpretations to and see what they see.”
One person saw wind chimes.
“I’m like, ‘Oh, perfect.’ That’s exactly what I want,” she said. “I think there’s imaginative potential, hopefully seeing a lot of other things.”
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