Lee ShinJa (b. 1930) is a pioneering first-generation Korean fiber artist and educator. During the 1950s and 60s, when working with thread and fabric was considered domestic labor, Lee broke new ground in the evolution of applied arts in Korea. Against the conventions of traditional craft, she experimented with modern formal techniques, driving innovations in embroidery, dyeing, weaving, and tapestry to expand the breadth and depth of the genre, which at the time was still unestablished.

Mountain of Elegance demonstrates Lee's keen ability to create painterly effects with thread. Perhaps drawing from her training in traditional ink painting, this work exhibits a fluidity and tonal subtlety reminiscent of brushwork on paper. The soft gradations evoke the aesthetics of East Asian landscape painting, reinterpreted through the tactile medium of fiber. In doing so, Lee bridges visual traditions with material innovation, transforming thread into a vehicle for expressive, contemplative imagery.