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Michael Lee

1x

Finalist

1x

Winner

Bio

The first time I seriously wanted to be an artist was when I played a game called the “Pickaxe series.” This game is a free-to-play game created by a two-person development team with a unique and creative setting, with a strange and funny story. The game’s unique characteristics and narrative made me fall in love with creating something. I have always loved observing and analyzing things. In particular, I like to immerse myself in, understand, and contemplate elements such as literary stories, directing, background settings, character design, philosophical and humanistic themes, and the narratives of each character and their relationships in entertainment, cultural works such as movies, comics, and games. Therefore, I express the experiences of wonder and grandeur that I once experienced through symbolic objects, starting with the arrangement of various objects in my paintings, and at the same time, share my unique story with others. Because I wanted to let them analyze, consider, and experience my world in their own way. Perhaps this is my desire as an artist. And in order to realize my ambitions that contain my values, I think that by receiving financial support, such as a scholarship for financially burdensome elements, such as university tuition fees, I can lighten this burden and focus more on my work, leading to better progress and completion of my work. In other words, this financial support will help me make my college life more comfortable, which will in turn expedite the work of completing the story I wanted to share with others.

Education

Laguna College of Art and Design

Bachelor's degree program
2025 - 2028
  • Majors:
    • Fine and Studio Arts

Northwood High School

High School
2021 - 2024

Miscellaneous

  • Desired degree level:

    Bachelor's degree program

  • Graduate schools of interest:

  • Transfer schools of interest:

  • Majors of interest:

    • Visual and Performing Arts, General
    • Visual and Performing Arts, Other
    • Arts, Entertainment, and Media Management
  • Not planning to go to medical school
  • Career

    • Dream career field:

      • Arts
    • Dream career goals:

      Author

      Sports

      Badminton

      Club
      2022 – Present4 years

      Research

      • Philosophy

        Student
        2022 – Present

      Arts

      • Art

        Illustration
        Stories, Arts
        2018 – Present

      Public services

      • Volunteering

        School — Student
        2020 – 2021
      Sleep Deez Legacy Scholarship: For the Visionaries Who Shape Culture
      Art has always meant more to me than simply creating something beautiful. To me, art is a way of observing, questioning, and understanding the world. It allows people to transform their experiences, beliefs, doubts, and imagination into something that can be shared with others. My own journey as an artist began with this realization, and it has gradually developed into my ambition to create stories that encourage people to think about their own lives. The first time I seriously wanted to become an artist was when I played a game called the "Pickaxe series." It was a free-to-play game created by a two-person development team, filled with strange humor, creative settings, memorable characters, and an unconventional story. What fascinated me was not its scale or budget, but the fact that such a small team could create a world that stayed in my memory. It showed me that creativity does not necessarily depend on enormous resources. A story created by only a few people could still reach someone else and influence the way that person imagined the world. In my case, it helped determine what I wanted to do with my life. Since then, I have become increasingly interested in observing and analyzing creative works. When I experience movies, comics, games, literature, or paintings, I often think about their stories, directing, environments, character designs, philosophical ideas, and the relationships between characters. I want to understand not only what a work shows, but why it was created that way and what it asks its audience to consider. This habit of observation has shaped my own artwork as well. Through symbolic objects, environments, characters, and visual composition, I try to create worlds that audiences can interpret for themselves. This is also why storytelling has become central to my artistic vision. I hope to tell stories through comics, novels, video games, and visual art that explore questions about human nature, freedom, morality, and purpose. Many of my narratives are influenced by the tension between the Seven Deadly Sins and the Seven Heavenly Virtues. Through these opposing ideas, I explore both the darkness and potential within humanity and ask what it means to remain human in a world filled with hardship, uncertainty, and imperfection. One subject that particularly interests me is nihilism and the question of how people find meaning in their lives. I do not want my stories to simply tell audiences what they should believe. Instead, I want to present characters who struggle, fail, change, resist, and make choices, allowing audiences to consider those experiences through their own perspectives. I believe that every person must ultimately find their own answers to life's questions. Meaning may not always be something waiting for us to discover; sometimes, it is something we create through our choices, relationships, actions, and will. Pursuing this vision, however, requires both time and resources. College has given me opportunities to strengthen my artistic skills, experiment with different forms of storytelling, and experience both failure and success. At the same time, the financial cost of education can limit the time and resources I am able to dedicate to developing my work. Receiving a scholarship would help relieve that burden and allow me to focus more deeply on my education and creative projects. Money is not the purpose of art, but financial support can provide the foundation that allows an artist to experiment, fail, learn, and eventually create something meaningful. Ultimately, I want my creativity to give others something similar to what that small game once gave me: a reason to imagine, question, and create. I want my stories to acknowledge that life can be difficult, repetitive, uncertain, and sometimes seemingly meaningless without concluding that people are powerless. Even when we cannot completely change the world around us, we can change ourselves, define our values, influence others, and choose the direction in which we move. Perhaps what I want to create is simply a childish, foolish, and overly romantic fairy tale about human freedom. But I believe those stories have value. If my work can encourage even one person to question what they believe, discover something meaningful to them, or become inspired to create a world of their own, then my art will have reached beyond me. That is the legacy I hope to build: not a collection of answers, but stories that inspire others to search for their own.
      WCEJ Thornton Foundation Music & Art Scholarship
      Winner
      I plan to make a positive impact on the world through storytelling. Rather than providing direct answers about how people should live, I want to create stories that encourage individuals to reflect on their own beliefs, values, and purpose. Through mediums such as comics, novels, and video games, I hope to share philosophical ideas in a way that is engaging, emotional, and accessible to a wide audience. At the center of my artistic vision is the belief that every person must ultimately find their own answer to life's questions. My goal is not to persuade people to adopt my worldview, but to invite them into a journey of reflection. By experiencing my stories, I hope audiences will be inspired to examine their own convictions, confront their doubts, and discover meanings that are uniquely their own. Many of my narratives are shaped by the tension between the Seven Deadly Sins—wrath, sloth, lust, greed, envy, pride, and avarice—and the Seven Heavenly Virtues—patience, diligence, chastity, temperance, kindness, humility, and charity. Through the conflict and balance between these opposing forces, I explore what it means to remain human in a world filled with hardship, uncertainty, and imperfection. These themes allow me to examine both the darkness and potential within humanity, while emphasizing the choices people make in response to their circumstances. I am particularly interested in addressing the challenge of nihilism. At some point, many people encounter feelings of emptiness, meaninglessness, or despair. Rather than denying those experiences, I want my stories to acknowledge them while offering an alternative perspective: that meaning is not something waiting to be discovered, but something people can create through their own will, relationships, and actions. Even when confronted with suffering or uncertainty, individuals still possess the freedom to define what matters to them. In the end, I simply want to share what may seem like a childish, foolish, and overly romantic fairy tale. Yet I believe there is value in such stories. Life often feels repetitive, and the world may not always change as much as we hope. Even so, human beings have the ability to change themselves, shape their values, and influence the world around them. Through my art, I hope to share a story of freedom—the belief that despite our limitations, we still have the power to choose what kind of life we wish to create and what kind of future we wish to pursue.