Yoonseo Lee

Yoonseo Lee
USC
Fine Arts
Sophomore
Laguna Niguel, CA

My name is Yoonseo Lee, and I’m a rising junior at the University of Southern California. I’m studying for a BFA in Fine Arts and a minor in Psychology. I was born and raised in Seoul until my family moved to the United States in 7th grade. Since then, I have been interested in making
art, so I started volunteering at local art fairs and participating in art-related events to help
children create art.

One of the experiences that changed my life was losing my father. When I suffered from
depression after my father’s death, making art healed me and led to my academic interest in
studying the intersection between art and psychology and to my long-term goal of becoming an
art therapist. This summer, I spent most days volunteering at art therapy in person and online to
understand and help improve children’s mental health. When I’m not volunteering, I work on
personal artwork for my upcoming fall exhibition. I was selected to have a solo exhibition at my
school’s gallery.

As a fine art major, I aspire to build a socially driven art practice that engages viewers and
reveals new perspectives, calling attention to urgent problems and feasible solutions. However,
by simultaneously studying psychology at university, I will not only develop the capacity to
create more nuanced and emotionally layered art but also build a foundation of knowledge from
which I can proceed to graduate studies in art therapy. I am so grateful and thrilled to be selected
as one of the scholars for the SNUAA Undergraduate Scholarship this year.