Lindy Lee

Lee was born in 1954 in Brisbane, Queensland,[5] the daughter of Chinese immigrants who fled China with their two older children after the rise of communism in that country.[1] Lee's experiences with racism as a child in Australia coupled with her experience of feeling alienated when visiting China because of her inability to speak in the Chinese language contributed to her interest in melding the cultures in her work.[6]

She attended the Chelsea School of Art in London,[6] after which she considered a career as an art teacher, but exposure to portraiture and contemporary art in London and elsewhere in Europe decided her to become a professional artist.[1] During her years at graduate school at the Sydney College of the Arts in Australia she made her first portrait utilising photocopiers, a technique which featured prominently in her early work.[5][6] In the 1980s, she began exhibiting her work.[5]

After decades as a practising artist, Lee attended the University of New South Wales, from which she achieved her PhD in Fine Art in 2001.[6] She has served as a visual arts lecturer at the University of Sydney and a trustee at the Art Gallery of New South Wales.[7]

The Life of Stars by Lindy Lee in the forecourt of the Art Gallery of South Australia

Lee's work began with a strong interest in originality and reproductions, utilising photocopiers to reproduce famous portraits over which she painted original work.[1] Eventually, she began adding portraits of family and others before moving into other art forms, including sculpture. As she became more involved in Zen Buddhism, she began to incorporate elements of religion in her work, which often focuses heavily on the theme of suffering.[1][8] She also reflects Daoist themes, including the interconnectedness of the universe and of nature and humanity.[3] She has utilised a range of materials, from building texture with custard to creating burn holes on paper generated by a soldering iron.[1][8]

Lee's 6-metre (20 ft) sculpture "The Life of Stars" is mounted on the forecourt the Art Gallery of South Australia, after being presented for the 2018 Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art: Divided Worlds. Concentric circles on the egg-shaped sculpture refer symbolically to the connectedness of the universe via a concept used in Mahayana Buddhism.[9] Created in Shanghai in 2015 in collaboration with global art foundry and fabrication company UAP[10], the sculpture's polished stainless steel surface reflects its surroundings[11] while simultaneously radiating light. Over 30,000 perforated holes were individually placed by Lee[12] resemble a map of our galaxy when lit from within. The sculpture was bought by the gallery as a farewell gift for departing director Nick Mitzevich in April 2018.[13]