Selfies, Shadows, and Seoul Nights: Moka Lee Paints the Digital Gaze

Before smartphones became an extension of the self, Moka Lee was already watching how screens reshape identity. Born at the dawn of Gen Z in Korea, Lee straddled two worlds: the analog hush of early internet days and the scroll-happy era of mobile culture. Her paintings dissect the rituals of self-presentation, where a selfie isn’t just a snapshot but a carefully curated performance. In works like "Ego Function Error," the spotlight shifts from the classic couple’s pose to a single, self-aware gaze—while the partner fades into the background, half-cropped, half-present, a supporting actor in someone else’s story. Lee’s art borrows from found images—celebrations, family moments, and staged smiles—then strips away distractions, dialing up color and cropping to amplify emotion. Her signature technique, layering thin washes of oil on cotton, mimics the translucency of memory and the fleeting nature of digital impressions. Each painting is a slow build, echoing the way identity is layered, edited, and revealed online. In Lee’s world, the glow of a phone screen and the midnight lights of Seoul’s factories both illuminate the art of being seen. #ContemporaryArt #KoreanArtists #DigitalCulture #Culture