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 Astrid Lee at work
Astrid
Lee
contact details
"Art is essential to my life for its unmatched honesty,
It’s a pathway to self-discovery while creating culture. Currently I
Reiki all my artwork - enhancing the well-being of my audience." -- Astrid Lee
Born and raised in art-loving Holland, it was natural
for Astrud to undertake an extensive self-study in visual art in Amsterdam,
Paris, Berlin, London, Madrid, Tokyo, Johannesburg, New York City, San
Francisco, and now Vancouver. This extensive travel offered me a global
perspective on art, besides being a great resource to draw upon when
developing my portfolio.
My earliest serious drawings date back from childhood
in the '70's, when I was ill in bed for several months. I studied master
drawings, books and books on end, and try to reproduce the master pieces.
The real kick-off point to develop my own original art
started much later in 1986. One night after visiting a Kabuki play downtown
Tokyo, I was so inspired, a bought a set of Japanese ink and watercolor
on the way home and started to play, trying to create that great wisteria
on a 6x8" pad. I have come a long way since. Over time, my watercolor
works became larger (e.g. 18 x 24”), and I was searching for ways to
lay down flat surfaces of color. I switched to acrylics as medium in
California in 2001.
That 1986 was an important art year for my art. Beyond
my start in water mediums, I also bought my first Canon in Tokyo. It
was an AE1, which I later complemented with a digital camera in 2001.
Travel pictures transitioned into art elements to digital collage, and
creeping onto the canvas, as a natural parallel progression.
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When I came to the US, --following a 10-year international
management consulting career based on an MBA from NYU --, I came with
my focus on the Internet and art. I initially completed a Multimedia
Art Certification at Foothill College and created the Los Altos digital
art gallery, an exhibition sponsored by the Los Altos Library and Adobe
in 1997. Upon completion, I started to teach new media, web design and
marketing.
Throughout my life, I have been awarded grants and awards,
including Teaching Assistant Fellowships & Tuition Grants from New York
University, a Grant from AT&T, and a Grant from a business in my local
community, and an International Student Exchange Award. I have also
been nominated for the Australian Business Women of the Year award,
before my current focus on art.
As to be expected from a mostly self-taught artist, my
style is natural, original, with hints of colorful fauvism. Some compare
my ouvre to that of Jim Dine. While I feel honored with the reference,
my works are also spiritual.
My motivation to paint is linked to the exploration
of deeper meaning. I want to portray the pure and positive in life.
I aim to balance abstraction and figurative in my contemporary art,
and incorporate my personal iconic choreography, words and phrases.
My colorful (mixed-media) paintings are meant to express my love of
paint and the magic of serendipity during the act of painting as well
as commenting on the subject matter.
My hues tend to be fiery, and I try not to be too neat,
using large brushes and palette knives for top layers after having worked
out the anatomy of my story telling and/or subject matter.The vigor
and energy that radiates from my canvases seem to captivate my viewers.
Many of my compositions are rhythmic, making the fluid trails of paint
seem natural and understood.
Serial works are usually thematic. While each painting
is valuable in its own right, each painting belongs to the series as
an aspect of concept exploration. My titling reflects this. For example,
the title of the series, “Proof Exists” relates to the objective of
the artist to find proof of subliminal guidance in art making. The shapes
and colors of the resulting personal iconography are formed intuitively
in the process of painting, as well as a research into universally understood symbols and icons. |
showsIn addition to her online exhibitions at eArtfair and elsewhere, she has open studios, group and solo exhibitions for private collectors in the San Francisco Bay Area and in Vancouver, Canada. Recent and current membership and representation |
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