Viv Lee
Viv Lee was born in Hong Kong and studied at Glasgow School of Art. Each ceramic piece is influenced by prehistoric cultures and modernist forms. She works with wild Scottish clay harnessing the elemental beauty of her adopted homeland.
Sympoiesis Works, 2022-23
Stoneware and terracotta
Viv Lee: Having grown up in Hong Kong, a former British colony, I went to English speaking schools and I didn’t quite feel like I fitted in at school with the other kids, the other Western kids, and nor did I feel like I could fit in with Hong Kong-born Chinese kids. I just had this kind of mixed feeling and then when I moved overseas I found that that kind of feeling just never really left me. But I didn’t really know that, perhaps it was because of this dual experience that it’s led me to feel somehow not necessarily identifying with any particular culture or identity.
Biography
Viv Lee was born in Hong Kong and studied at Glasgow School of Art. After graduating, she remained in Glasgow and is still based there today, creating ceramics inspired by the beautiful irregularity of nature. Rather than seeking perfect symmetry in her work, Lee looks to organic forms – particularly the human body – and embraces the imperfect. Lee creates unique, one-off, sculptural ceramics by hand in Glasgow. Mindfully made, each piece is a unique work of art, which also serves a functional purpose.
Lee’s work is held in private and corporate collections in Scotland, England, USA, Denmark, Vienna, Germany, France, Italy, Lithuania, Canada, Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, Dubai and Australia. Selected group shows include BARRO, Materia Materia, Mexico (2022); Claylarks, The New Craftsmen, London (2022); An Act of Making, M.A.H Yorkton Studios, London (2021); Craft Scotland Selects, The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh (2020); VESSEL, Custom Lane, Edinburgh (2019); TERRA, The Briggait, Glasgow (2019).