Sand, fire, paper, wood, water, and
twine all figure prominently in visual
artist Susie J. Lee’s installations and
time-based work. One such piece,
Consummation, features twin lines of
twine on fire, shrinking, and writhing
in the intense heat. “I was looking for
material gestures that evoked a sense of
holding on and letting go,” she says. “I
observed not only the coiling, shortening,
and disappearing into ash, but also
the interaction between the strings.”
     Lee, named Best Emerging Artist
of 2006 by the Seattle Weekly, studied
molecular biophysics and biochemistry
at Yale. Her intention was to go to
medical school. But the thought of
doing four to eight years more of school
was “stultifying,” she recalls.
“When I got the acceptance letter,
I felt like my life was over,” Lee says.
“All I could envision was immense sleep
deprivation. My friends were taking
pottery classes, and they encouraged me
to try it and stop driving everyone
crazy! I remember playing with clay on
the wheel one day and wishing that I
could do that forever.”
     But that was unrealistic, Lee
thought. She was the oldest daughter in
an immigrant family, and felt an enormous
responsibility not to disappoint
her parents. How could she take care of
them as an artist?
     Encouragement from her thenpartner
gave her the confidence to take
the risk, by saying, “You have one life to
live, so why not take a chance on something
that you love?”
     Lee began to work in ceramics,
the tactility and immediacy of clay honing

her material sensibilities. “I think
the warmth of materials is important
for the kinds of intimate interactions I
want to express,” she says. “I am drawn
to the kinds of sculptural explorations
that draw out the inherent properties of
materials. I’d rather see what happens
when a trickle of acid runs down a
chunk of marble, and use that reaction
as a basis for a metaphorical language,
than carve a likeness of something else
out of it.”
     “Lee is totally materially fearless,”
notes Seattle-based art critic Jen Graves.
“She imprints something very real onto
the many disparate materials that she
works with. And she continues to
explore, following basic instincts that
she has. None of her work looks the
same, but you can always tell that it’s
hers.”
     “A quote from the novel The
Alchemist kept me going in the early
days,” Lee says. “It goes, ‘When you
want something, all the universe conspires
in helping you achieve it.’ It was
very strange, but in turning to art, suddenly
so many obstacles and frustrations
fell away, and I began meeting amazing
people and finding opportunities in
unexpected places. I was working harder
than ever—and sleeping less!—but I
didn’t want to do anything else.”
—Ann Williams

     In February, Susie J. Lee taught at
Centrum’s High School Master Classes in
the Arts workshops.
    To see video of Lee’s time-based works
and read a new interview with her,
visit www.centrum.org/visualart.