SOLO EXHIBITION
SOLO EXHIBITION
SOLO EXHIBITION
The World's Leading Contemporary Fine Art Gallery
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The World's Leading Contemporary Fine Art Gallery
Elizabeth Yuenfong
Lee
USA
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“I maintain gentle respect for life’s absurdities, using the resonance of color, whose light waves are eternal.”
Elizabeth Yuenfong Lee is a Hapa abstract artist working primarily in painting and mixed media. Nature, and the California coast, where she currently resides, are constant sources of inspiration. Water, boats, and other mystical elements from Chinese cosmology, pop art, as well as themes of spirituality, identity, and alienation all coalesce in her artwork in various forms.
Self-portrait from a rainy day in the Republic of Tatarstan, from the Tatarstan series.
As the legend goes, children using lotus leaves to shield from the rain, inspired Lu Ban to create the first umbrella. The umbrella serves as an element of beauty, a tool for protection, a hidden weapon a symbol of non-violence, the defeat of death. My gaze is into a pink future, alluding to a gaze inward. Lu Ban, the god of architecture, has been summoned to re-architect this experience.
While her intent partially deifies the painting process, she also maintains a sense of humor and chronic playfulness, which fuels each piece with a wanton joy. Elizabeth believes that an artist’s life force merges with the invisible realms and comes forth during the painting.
From the Tatarstan Series
A portrait of my mother-in-law's family in her dacha, her sanctuary. This painting reflects the weeks before her death. The tree of life is central to the piece. The colors are heavily saturated, in an attempt to wash away the pervasive grey atmosphere that surrounded us. The flowers are the unifying element, offering the promise of hope and life. From the dacha, we brought home the harvest of love and flowers, the comfort of nature, and of being together.
Whether a piece is pure abstraction or more figurative renderings, an ongoing dialogue with the living canvas is central to the magical energy of creation. Elizabeth surrenders to each artwork, engaging with the substrate as well as the raw forces of imagination. This reflects back to her internal conversations, as she attempts to resolve the mysteries of cultural structures, biracial identity, immigrant experiences, alienation, and impermanence.
“Taoist principles and other elements from Asian cultures sometimes emerge in my pieces.”
The narrative is an important component in Elizabeth’s work, stemming from her background in film, theater, music, and other arts. Even with completely abstract pieces, the title tells a story. Her cross-disciplinary approach has at its core the understanding that art is a refuge, an act of human connection; meant to put love into the world.
“My approach is whimsical and optimistic, as a dream floating by. I use the energy of colors to create a visceral experience for the viewer.”
Born during the Vietnam War at Fitzsimmons Army Hospital in Aurora, Colorado, Elizabeth is the third child of a war survivor. Family and identity are frequent themes that she seeks to transform through art. When presented with life's brutality, she chooses to paint. The creative process is the expression of her inner experience.
A tribute to the enduring life force of flowers.
Flowers have befriended me, consoled me, nurtured me, and accompanied me through so many challenging times. Nature is the wisest teacher, bestowing such beautiful gifts. It's no surprise that I often find myself painting flowers. The year my mother passed away, I painted flowers obsessively. They have a healing power that I hope to share with others. My Chinese name means something akin to “fragrance from the garden," in other words, a flower.
“Artistic efforts become a psychic protection against the intolerable, and a template for better potentialities. Shifting vibrations to happiness through color is my key motivation.”
The hilltop above Orquevaux, France.
This painting came to me as a lucid dream. After a night of too much tequila, I awoke to see the moon in its last quarter. Shining so brightly, it would disappear behind clouds and reappear to flood light on the path. As I walked off the alcohol, the morning light just faintly appeared on the horizon. At the top of the mountain, a herd of deer bounded into the forest, upon my approach. A magical meandering.
Raised in the Midwest, the daughter of a Chinese immigrant, Elizabeth floated between two cultures, belonging to neither. This forced her to think in opposites, living on a bridge between worlds. Art has been her method to heal generational trauma, as well as a road to self-understanding. When she had no words or language, color was her vehicle to express the inexpressible.
From my Inspirational Women Series.
An abstract portrait of Ursula K. Le Guin. A quote from her National Book Awards speech surrounding her. While being recognized for her lifetime achievement, she spoke out, warning that American literature was being sold down the river to capitalism. I wanted to capture her courage, originality, uplifting soul, and wry smile.
As Emily Dickinson sewed poems into her skirts as talismans, Elizabeth often starts her art with a Chinese character, phrase, or poem, as part of the underpainting. The “calligraphy” anchors in the intention or direction of the ideas she wishes to explore. The Chinese characters also summon the magical dimensions and power of language—the symbols that map together our common humanity. Although these words will be pushed underneath a barrage of color and forms, they serve as a prayer vibrating outwards.
Painted on glass, this piece has translucence and fragility. The painting attempts to capture Lily, my youngest brother’s mother-in-law, her spirit and beauty. Cantonese born, and raised in Vietnam, she emigrated to the U.S. as a teen, during the Vietnam War. She is exceptionally refined and elegant like a Chinese Orchid. The abstract flowers pictured here (calla lilies and irises) depict a springtime blossoming. Of the Four Noble Gentlemen (四君子), the Orchid is Spring.
In February 2022, Elizabeth began the Tatarstan Series that portrays transnational couples, partnerships, and families. It examines the overarching nature of love that transcends all boundaries, regardless of national borders and man-made constructs. At the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, in response to the country’s leaders’ hubris, machismo, food shortages, murders, and archaic methods of “conflict resolution,” Elizabeth felt compelled to make paintings about love and loved ones abroad. She is married to a Russian immigrant, who was raised by a Ukrainian father, so this body of work is especially poignant to her.
Painted just before my loved one had a heart surgery. The painting — a comfort and a meditation. The surgery was successful. The heart repaired.
“My approach can be considered shamanistic with the living work of the canvas.”
Dreamscape from the Tatarstan Series
Tally’s dream is a fantasy of souskis, a Russian circular cracker. Childlike graphics symbolize the innocence of sleep, our vulnerable natures, and ephemeral existence. Salted fish lie happily sliced, as flowers and butterflies leap from the soup. Flowers, representing the epitome of love, erupt pervasively in private gardens throughout the blanket. A homage to the decorative Chinese chrysanthemum grows up on the right side, metaphorically representing me.
Elizabeth begins with the palette. It needs to match the sensations she wishes to evoke. This will morph through the development of each work. She may apply the color as a print, using a gel press, to layer on and flatten out the base structure of a piece. This satisfying practice makes the paintings a mixed media process when it begins with this non-traditional method.
Phantasmagoric memory from the Tatarstan Series
The loose sketch-like quality infers instability and change. The music weaves a pink and blue ribbon across the fabric of the painting. The harmonies of the flowers sing their tranquil cry for connection and evolution. Two poems by Pushkin and a quote from Tolstoy's War and Peace cover the newsprint, wrapped around the flowers. The lion tamer rubs the lion's nose for luck, quelling the beast.
Elizabeth's philosophy is to "throw everything at it." Any material that will generate the intuitive feeling of the piece is a free game. Acrylic inks and paint pens are common layering tools for her. During the highlight phase, faint outlines sometimes depict the invisible, energetic world that always surrounds us, but is physically intangible.
The Aos Si refers to the fairies of the Celts. Protective of their homes, and connected to the underworld, they are known by many names: fairies, ancestors, nature spirits, immortal beings from beneath the earth, or parallel realms. Offerings of respect keep their trickster energies at bay. The magical realms of flowers appear like this to me at times. My Irish heritage from my mother's side shines through.