With a combination of shape, juxtaposition, colour, rhythm, density and intensity, Lee succeeds in creating strong visual sensations and symbols of universal appeal. Walking through an exhibition of Carol Lee Mei Kuen is like walking into a realm of imagination.

Chinese Art Critic Carolyn Cartier describes Lee’s work as challenging ”the relationship between artist, art and viewer.” With meticulous attention the artist explores topics such as childhood memories and personal intimacy relationships. She investigates the philosophy of life and the flow of time, expressing her emotions and attachments with the surroundings by playing with light, shadows, found objects and space. In her own words: “Domestic life may be full of trivial details but it is so real. Paths of family members cross with one another without a specific order. I explore and seek in the multiple layers of relationships. As images develop slowly on paper, the works turn the memories and experience into something tangible, allowing them to be recorded and preserved. This is a special relationship between time and space, in which time is transformed into a physical space.

The Statement

In this new exclusive series of works on paper, Lee continues her diary journal to reflect her very own philosophy of life. “Time and light are piled with contradictions and bewilderment; reconstruction and destruction become inseparable, the ever-flowing journey of the beginning and the end of life, until it reaches the otherness of eternity.”

Time Painting: A specific technique to convey the artist’s sensibility

Lee uses a technique called “time painting’, which was originated from the principles of photograms. She places objects onto newsprint papers under the sun, intending to use the portrayal of light to record the passing of time. Newsprint yellows on the surface as time goes by. Patterns of shading and fading are therefore transferred through the objects and ‘projected’ onto the paper. This process produces an astonishing aesthetic effect, creating images described as ‘minimalist, elegant, serious and reflecting’. As Carolyn Cartier, an art critic from China commented, ‘this art between people is a gift of mediation between attentive subjects.”