Lindy Lee AO (b. 1954) is one of Australia’s foremost contemporary artists. Born in Brisbane, she completed a diploma at the Kelvin Grove School of Art Education before going to London to study at the Chelsea School of Art in 1979. Having gained further qualifications at the Sydney College of the Arts, she held her first solo exhibition in 1985 and since then has been exhibiting regularly. Her work, encompassing painting, multimedia and installation, has also featured in significant group shows in Australia and overseas and is represented in major Australian public and corporate collections. Lee gained a doctorate in art theory from the University of New South Wales in 2001, and is currently a senior lecturer in painting at the Sydney College of the Arts. She is a trustee of the Art Gallery of NSW, and a founding member of Gallery 4a in Sydney’s Chinatown. Lee investigates selfhood and explores the experiences of loss and transition from China to Australia in her innovative and unique works. She traverses the boundaries between portraiture, sculpture, painting, and installations effortlessly, producing works that are unified in their sentiments.
Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
© Gregory Weight/Copyright Agency, 2024
This black and white photograph of Chinese-Australian contemporary artist, Lindy Lee, was taken by Greg Weight in 2003, and is 45cm tall by 33cm wide.
The portrait is exclusively the right side of Lindy Lee’s face, in profile. The background, along the top and right edges of the photograph, it is dark, with a hint of light suggesting several large folds in a matt fabric.
Lindy’s black hair almost blends into the rear of the portrait, except for a faint halo, revealing her hair’s texture, a subtle sheen, illuminates single, delicate, blunt strands.
Lindy’s haircut is geometric. She has a long blunt fringe covering her brow. The back of her hair is cut short, levelled ruler-straight, concealing most of her ear, the lobe just peeping out. The hair beneath has been shaved, the detail of each tiny hair follicle visible in the photograph.
The silhouette of Lindy’s face is emphasised; her smooth, pale skin in striking contrast with her black hair and surrounds. Her right eye is shut, short, dark eyelashes frame the closed lid. Her rounded nose slopes gently down, and her unremarkable, closed lips are painted with striking, dark lipstick.
In the bottom left of the photograph a glimpse of a delicate metal chain around her neck, caught just in the frame it follows the angle of her nape, sloping towards the front.
Audio description written by Lucie Shawcross and voiced by Rory Walker
Patrick Corrigan AM (130 portraits)
On one level The Companion talks about the most famous and frontline Australians, but on another it tells us about ourselves.
Greg Weight on working with Jiawei Shen, and starting out as a photographer.
Penelope Grist spends some quality time with the Portrait Gallery’s summer collection exhibition, Eye to Eye.
