Article
JunYee (1942--) By Guazon, Tessa Maria
Article
Junyee, or Luis Yee, Jr., is a Filipino artist known for his large-scale and site-specific art installations, which reflect a deep awareness of ecology and environmental issues. He was born in the Philippine island of Agusan del Norte. Trained as a sculptor, Junyee has pioneered the use of materials readily available from nature for expansive, site-specific works that incorporate ephemeral material within specific locations, redefining site and space in the process. His inventive use of indigenous material—which he assembles into sprawling constellations of forms, swarms of objects, or networks of points which function like maps—conveys a concentrated appreciation of nature. His works Wood Things (1981) and Spaces and Objects (1986), for example, are sprawling assemblies of natural forms. Junyee’s installations bring the precarious state of our natural world to the fore; by incorporating natural objects into his art, he exhibits both resourcefulness and acute awareness of the finite state of natural resources. Junyee’s approach to art is characterized by a keen sense of the environment and astute knowledge of materials. Whether paintings composed with soot; free-standing and outdoor sculptures in wood or cast concrete; or sprawling site installations, Junyee’s work exhibits a feeling for form and inherent awareness of the ways art carves new spaces of experience.