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Lot Essay
The works of Singaporean artist Jane Lee demand to be acknowledged; looking at Purple Blues II (Lot 156), one is forced to confront the work in a way that is simultaneously visual as well as physical, requiring one to approach the work from various angles and perspectives. Having graduated with a BA in Fine Arts, as well as a Diploma in Fashion from LASALLE Collage of the Arts in Singapore, Lee's multisensory objects defy any clear-cut definition of sculpture or painting, instead, vacillating between the two mediums in a highly fluid manner. Purple Blues II is no different in this respect, the canvas metamorphosed beyond recognition, rid of any formal relations to traditional painting.
As opposed to focusing on the materiality of the surface of a work of art, Lee draws attention to the tripartite relationship between artwork, viewer and space through the ability of her highly textured sensations to appeal to our own instinctive sensual desires. In some ways Lee's objects elicit comparisons with the Minimalists of the 1960s, such as Donald Judd, Carl Andre and Robert Morris, who similarly eschewed conventional distinctions between sculpture and painting, preferring the viewer to address the context that the work existed in. However, her works employ a visual vernacular that is entirely of her own construction, refusing to abandon entirely the medium of painting and instead, giving her works their own agency through the manipulation of materials to achieve an effect very much like that of painting.
There is a very visceral and sensual quality to the forms that Lee creates with her innovative 'painting' methods – luscious layers of paint are decadently slathered on to each other and strips of canvas are piled into a landscape of tactile textures – signaling an unbridled excess. In Purple Blues II, the densely alternating bands of purples and blues, interspersed with dashes of pinks and reds, are endlessly looped to brilliant effect. Lee's works constantly point to the very physical act of construction, serving as an index of her creative gestures in the production process. However, at the same time there is an unsettling undertone of destruction within her works, and the single tug of an errant strip of fabric will send a meticulously wound spool of canvas unraveling. This dichotomy unwittingly imbues her works with a sense of fragility, pointing to its ability to make connections with our own human condition.
In her rejection of traditional forms of art making, Lee exposes the systems and structures of painting by deconstructing and subverting its conventional roles, and the support becomes the structure, with the canvas no longer becoming a 'window to the world'. Purple Blues II is demonstrative of this formalistic preoccupation, with the often-ignored canvas edges forming the main surface of the work, questioning the institution of painting itself. Nevertheless, aesthetics are never overlooked and the sense of spectacle in all of Lee's works always result in the most stunning of artistic confections.
As opposed to focusing on the materiality of the surface of a work of art, Lee draws attention to the tripartite relationship between artwork, viewer and space through the ability of her highly textured sensations to appeal to our own instinctive sensual desires. In some ways Lee's objects elicit comparisons with the Minimalists of the 1960s, such as Donald Judd, Carl Andre and Robert Morris, who similarly eschewed conventional distinctions between sculpture and painting, preferring the viewer to address the context that the work existed in. However, her works employ a visual vernacular that is entirely of her own construction, refusing to abandon entirely the medium of painting and instead, giving her works their own agency through the manipulation of materials to achieve an effect very much like that of painting.
There is a very visceral and sensual quality to the forms that Lee creates with her innovative 'painting' methods – luscious layers of paint are decadently slathered on to each other and strips of canvas are piled into a landscape of tactile textures – signaling an unbridled excess. In Purple Blues II, the densely alternating bands of purples and blues, interspersed with dashes of pinks and reds, are endlessly looped to brilliant effect. Lee's works constantly point to the very physical act of construction, serving as an index of her creative gestures in the production process. However, at the same time there is an unsettling undertone of destruction within her works, and the single tug of an errant strip of fabric will send a meticulously wound spool of canvas unraveling. This dichotomy unwittingly imbues her works with a sense of fragility, pointing to its ability to make connections with our own human condition.
In her rejection of traditional forms of art making, Lee exposes the systems and structures of painting by deconstructing and subverting its conventional roles, and the support becomes the structure, with the canvas no longer becoming a 'window to the world'. Purple Blues II is demonstrative of this formalistic preoccupation, with the often-ignored canvas edges forming the main surface of the work, questioning the institution of painting itself. Nevertheless, aesthetics are never overlooked and the sense of spectacle in all of Lee's works always result in the most stunning of artistic confections.