“I encounter materials in a variety of conditions and explore them to different degrees, ranging from minimally invasive, where the material may not need to be manipulated at all, to a complete processing of the material where it is broken apart into its elements.”
Christine Lee has an interdisciplinary practice encompassing art, design, and sustainability. Lee draws from a variety of investigation methods where intuitive direct-hand manipulation, traditional craft processes, and computer-aided technology are the central part of her research tools to seek out the patterns between seemingly disparate elements and systems. Her natural inclination to salvage and a deep appreciation for the environment continue to inform her selection of fiber-based, non-toxic, or sustainable media, as well as materials considered to be mundane, surplus, or disregarded, for use in the creation of sculpture, functional work, and installations. Her practice also includes engineering and science-based collaborations.
Lee received her MFA in Furniture Design/Woodworking from San Diego State University and her BS from the University of Wisconsin. She was a Senior Sustainability Scholar of the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability at Arizona State University, where she also taught in the School of Art of the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts. She has participated in numerous residencies at Djerassi, Anderson Ranch Arts Center, Workshop Residence, and as the Schmidt Ocean Institute’s Artist-at-Sea. Her work has been exhibited at Center for Art in Wood, Traver Gallery in Seattle, San Francisco Museum of Craft and Design, the Museum of Arts and Design, the Bellevue Arts Museum, the Society of Arts and Crafts, the Society of Contemporary Craft, the Aspen Art Museum, the Racine Art Museum, and the ASU Art Museum.