Emily Lee (b. 1996)
is an artist, writer, and community organizer from the Texas Gulf Coast. Through their practice, Lee observes how meaning and value are unconsciously reified in objects, social dynamics, and the built environment.
While disciplinary constraints are the starting point of their practice, they think in terms of sculpture because their primary concerns are material, form, and site. Their work includes handmade components, found objects, readymades, and site-specific ephemeral phenomena equally. Using the act of sculpting as a means of engaging somatically and improvisationally with the material world, their work is not, in itself, a form of conscious self-expression. Instead it serves as evidence of their own subjectivity within a social, industrial, capitalist, and historic system, objectified.
Lee is the founder and director of All the Sudden (ATS), an anti-disciplinary neighborhood DIY space that fosters experimentation and exhibits socially-engaged works, which was awarded a grant from Future Front TX as well as Austin Chronicle’s Critic’s Pick Award. Lee is the recipient of the Rhodes Endowed Presidential Scholarship in Art, Roy Crane Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Arts Grant, Ox-Bow School of Art Committee summer workshop scholarship, and the College of Fine Art Professional Development Travel Initiative Grant.
Lee received a certificate in plein-air painting from the Marchutz School of Fine Arts; a BA in Studio Art, a BFA in Art History Honors, and a BDP Certificate in Museum Studies from the University of Texas at Austin; and a Graduate Certificate in Architecture from Texas Tech University. Currently, Lee is experimenting with creative welding applications and metal casting processes. Lee has participated in residencies at Sweet Pass Sculpture Park and Land Arts of the American West.
While disciplinary constraints are the starting point of their practice, they think in terms of sculpture because their primary concerns are material, form, and site. Their work includes handmade components, found objects, readymades, and site-specific ephemeral phenomena equally. Using the act of sculpting as a means of engaging somatically and improvisationally with the material world, their work is not, in itself, a form of conscious self-expression. Instead it serves as evidence of their own subjectivity within a social, industrial, capitalist, and historic system, objectified.
Lee is the founder and director of All the Sudden (ATS), an anti-disciplinary neighborhood DIY space that fosters experimentation and exhibits socially-engaged works, which was awarded a grant from Future Front TX as well as Austin Chronicle’s Critic’s Pick Award. Lee is the recipient of the Rhodes Endowed Presidential Scholarship in Art, Roy Crane Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Arts Grant, Ox-Bow School of Art Committee summer workshop scholarship, and the College of Fine Art Professional Development Travel Initiative Grant.
Lee received a certificate in plein-air painting from the Marchutz School of Fine Arts; a BA in Studio Art, a BFA in Art History Honors, and a BDP Certificate in Museum Studies from the University of Texas at Austin; and a Graduate Certificate in Architecture from Texas Tech University. Currently, Lee is experimenting with creative welding applications and metal casting processes. Lee has participated in residencies at Sweet Pass Sculpture Park and Land Arts of the American West.