Haerim Lee = Rim Lee's art stimulates dialogue with communities through painting, public murals, ceramics, artist books, and photography. Her practice is rooted in ethnographical research: She investigates the history of an architectural site—such as the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Chicago, Cabrini Green, or the murals on the South Side of Chicago or in Gary, Indiana— and translating into in her studio practice. Her practice critiques of institutionalized demarcations of power. Originally from S. Korea, a monoethnic country, she is interested in multi-racial dynamics, particularly in the South Side of Chicago where she currently living in the neighborhood with diverse ethnicities from different backgrounds and cultural heritage. Unlike homogenous culture, living in the particular environment helps her to learn other people stories and create a learning space together. Although it creates racial complexities, it generates to think power dynamics and how to understand one another.
Born in 1982 in Seoul, S. Korea, Lee graduated from the MFA Program at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) in the Painting and Drawing as well as MA Program at the Visual and Critical Studies, and was an instructor in Arts and Street Culture at SAIC. She has had solo shows at Parlour and Ramp (2021), Gallery Noone (2017), and Kasia Kay Art Project (2012) in Chicago, and Youngeun Museum of Contemporary Art (2012) in South Korea. She has participated in group shows including Autoethnography (2021) at Heaven gallery Chicago, Artists Run Chicago 2.0 (2020) at the Hyde Park Art Center, Young Eunji Keeps Memories: Consistently (2020) at Youngun Museum of Contemporary Art in S. Korea, Korean Eye: 2020 (2019), Out of Context (2019) at Chicago Artist Coalition, The Art of Being Dangerous (2018) at the Hyde Park Art Center, The Body (2010) as a part of the Chicago Humanities Festival.
She was awarded Ignite Fund (3 Arts) (2022), Love, Unity & Values (LUV) Institute’s Parade of Hearts Project grant from Luv Institute (2021), an Ox-bow fellowship (2021), Make Together (2020) from the Hyde Park Art Center, the Downtown Gary Public Art Competition from the Legacy Foundation (2017). She was a resident artist in Parlour and Ramp (2021), Ox-bow: Conversation in Practice (2021) fellowship resident artist, a Center Program Artist at the Hyde Park Art Center (2018), Hatch Projects Residency at the Chicago Artist Coalition (2017-18).
Committed to multi-radical, participatory education, she recently became an adjunct faculty at Richard J. Daley College, City College of Chicago (2022- ). She is also currently teaching at Hyde Park Art Center Satellite programs. She worked as a staff member at Arts of Life as an Art Specialist. She also worked as an instructor at Hannam University in S. Korea.