June 2024 SIETAR Kansai
New ways of looking at art
Speakers: Soung-won Lee (Seokrim Middle School, Seosan, Korea) and Kristin Newton (freelance artist, Tokyo)
Date: June 29, 2024 (Saturday)
Time: 14:00-17:00
Fee: Free for all
Language: English
ZOOM Online presentation *registration required*
Contact: fujimotodonna@gmail.com to get the Zoom link; for any questions.
Description: Art has the power to bring people together. Several years ago, an artist in Korea saw a video of an American artist based in Tokyo, and he felt an immediate affinity with her ideas. They became online friends, and they have continued to share their work and ideas about art. Soung-won Lee has been doing and teaching ‘nature art’ for several decades. ‘Nature art’ is rapidly being recognized as an activity that can help develop the ‘ability to connect things that have nothing to do with each other.’ Lee has recently published an Art Nature book with work by himself and by his students. The American artist, Kristin Newton, has worked on stained-glass, run an art school, and given many workshops internationally on art and creativity. Her belief is that art is a tool that can untap the brain’s potential to increase creative and perceptual skills, thereby discovering the joy of creation. In this presentation, the two artists will share their work and their ideas. They will show how people can think in a new way and can return to their naturally curious state. Art has the power to make us see the world with new eyes.
Soung-won Lee is a nature artist who has been doing nature art since 1990. He has been teaching nature art classes to middle- and high school students since 2003. He also works in drawing, painting and object art. He has participated in six individual exhibitions and 200 group exhibitions in Korea and internationally. His four books and three art textbooks all promote nature art. His latest book is titled, “Art Nature.”
Kristin Newton is a freelance artist, who has lived in Tokyo for over 40 years. She was originally invited to Japan in 1980 on an artists’ exchange program as a glass artist. She later completed many stained-glass commissions for banks, hotels, public buildings, and private residences, which were located in Japan, Hong Kong, and the U.S. From 1994 to 2008 she had an art school, Right Brain Research (RBR) focusing on drawing workshops and classes in visual arts, creativity and bi-lingual education. Using brain friendly, arts-based processes, she gave workshops on art and creativity internationally for over 20 years. Her purpose is to empower people to overcome obstacles, to become free of their self-imposed limitations, and to live more fulfilling lives.