Dual Florescence: YehRim Lee and Chase Travaille

OPENING RECEPTION - Friday, March 6, 5pm to 8pm

ARTIST TALK with Chase Travaille - Saturday, March 7, 1pm

LaiSun Keane is pleased to present Dual Florescence, an exhibition of new work by YehRim Lee and Chase Travaille. This is Lee’s first exhibition at the gallery and Travaille’s fourth, following one solo and two group exhibitions. The artists met while in residence at the Archie Bray Foundation during the pandemic, where their practices developed through friendship, shared interests, and approaches to art.

The title Dual Florescence refers to the process of flowering and expansion. In developing the exhibition, the artists communicated closely to arrive at a shared title and to shape their work in relation to one another, with the aim of presenting a cohesive and complementary exhibition. For both artists, spring serves as a point of reference for growth, renewal, and collaboration, with floral forms and colors providing a common thread throughout the presentation.

Lee’s hand-built ceramics employ traditional Korean onggi jar-making techniques passed down through her family. Her floral forms are built through repeated firings and layered glazes, referencing both Korean ceramic traditions and Western approaches to surface and scale.

Travaille’s work draws from early figurative traditions such as Venus figurines and Cycladic idols, treating the body as a symbolic form rather than a portrait. Constructed from ceramic shards by multiple artists, the sculptures challenge singular authorship and origin. The title “mother,” such as Mother Willendorf, refer to kinship and chosen lineage. For this exhibition, Travaille incorporates floral imagery from Botticelli’s Birth of Venus alongside references to Lee’s ceramic work. 

YehRim Lee earned her BFA in Ceramics from Korea National University of Cultural Heritage (2013), and received her MFA from the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University (2017). Lee has exhibited nationally and internationally and has presented multiple solo exhibitions at museums and academic institutions throughout the U.S. Her work has also been included in major international ceramic biennials and museum exhibitions. She was artist in residence at the University of Georgia, the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, The Clay Studio, and Archie Bray Foundation in Helena, Montana. Lee is the daughter of renowned Korean ceramist Kang-Hyo Lee and is based in Joshua Tree, California.

Chase Travaille received his BFA in Ceramics from the Kansas City Art Institute (2015) and MFA in Ceramics from the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University (2019). He has presented solo exhibitions at LaiSun Keane in Boston and the Windgate Museum of Art at Hendrix College in Conway, Arkansas, and has participated in numerous group exhibitions nationally and internationally. His work has been recognized with awards and fellowships including the Windgate Fellowship and Taunt Fellowship from the Archie Bray Foundation, finalist distinction for the Young Sculptors Competition at Miami University, the International Sculpture Center’s Outstanding Student Achievement in Contemporary Sculpture Award, and recognition from Beautiful Bizarre Magazine. He is based in Little Rock, Arkansas.

For press inquiries, images, or additional information, please contact LaiSun Keane at laisun@laisunkeane.com or 978 495 6697.