Against the night sky, pink, orange and yellow firework sparks catapult out of Taipei 101 as a celebration of the new year. At the bottom left corner, a girl and a boy stand with their backs facing the audience, gazing at the colors in the sky. These two children are illustrations of Lee’s children.
Every new year, Lee and her family virtually watch the new year fireworks in Taipei, a scene that Lee’s children have never witnessed in person. However, Lee hopes that “those who view these artworks will experience joy, warmth, and an appreciation for the stories conveyed within the visuals.” Glimpses of these stories are displayed in her “Exploring Creativity: Design Through Illustration” art exhibit at Northwestern College’s Te Paske Gallery from Oct. 16th till Nov. 30th.
Indeed, Lee has many stories to tell. On the long wall of the gallery, white frames border Lee’s illustrations of the places she has lived in, namely Taiwan, New Jersey and Iowa.
In addition, her art exhibit also includes educational materials that she created for her children. To help her children remember Taiwan’s phonetic symbols and their associated sounds, she transformed the symbols into objects. When her children started to learn English, she created illustrations that grouped together objects that shared the same initial letter.
Despite the many elements she includes in her illustrations to portray a theme, her artworks do not seem overcrowded at all. This balance between detail and harmony is due to her meticulous illustration process. According to Lee, each illustration “starts with collecting information and sorting out the materials, followed by the selection and arrangement of objects, decisions on color palettes and styles, design of the composition, and the transition from rough sketches to final coloring.”
Lee’s artistic gifts have partly been shaped by her family. “My father was a traditional Chinese painter…my mother is a watercolor artist…and my sister teaches art in an elementary school in Taiwan.” Lee also did art herself. In fact, she was in her mother’s art class as a child, working on different projects every week.
In college, she “learned digital painting and fell in love with it.” This love for digital painting is manifested in her illustrations. From up close, they have the texture of paintings. However, they are actually digital paintings.
This unification between painting and design brings about joy, an experience that, according to Dr. Michael Kugler, is unlike the typical response of painters to commercial design. “Since commercial design is typically part of a capitalist consumer system, the fine arts can readily respond to that in critical, ironic ways. But Ms. Lee’s use of design techniques and perspectives results in far more joyful, winsome art.” In other words, Lee uses the commercial design medium in a way that communicates beauty and invokes joy.
One particular individual who feels extremely happy because of Lee’s work is Thea Angelee Davis, a graphic design major who grew up in the Philippines. Davis admires the way Lee does her art, “the complexities of her designs,” and the color palettes she uses. Furthermore, Davis states, “It means a lot to me as an Asian in a majority white community to see her bringing her culture to the table and showcasing it through her work.”
Come on over to the Te Paske Gallery in November. Experience the beauty that Lee’s illustrations communicate and the connections that you might find with them.
