Michelle Young Lee

Exhibition Dates: May 25 - June 22, 2025   

Opening Reception: May 25, 1-3pm

My artistic practice emerges from the intricate landscapes of diaspora, embodied memory, and collective healing. Rooted in the transformative moments of the 1992 LA Uprising and shaped by contemporary visual culture’s relationship to US history and politics, I create interdisciplinary works that challenge systemic representations and reveal hidden narratives for social transformation.

Found images, natural artifacts, neon signage, thrift store t-shirts, and beeswax serve as critical materials in my multimedia installations. In works like “Thank You; Have a Nice Day”, I explore the affective dimensions
of Asian American labor and cultural displacement. A digitally overlaid found photograph of a hollow deer bone—marked by coyote teeth—features iconic shopping bag text, with one line rendered in neon, emitting a bitter irony that highlights the visual aesthetics of Asian American immigrant owned small businesses. This piece was created in response to the violence that fell on the AAPI community during the pandemic and the murder of 6 Asian female spa workers in Atlanta in 2021. 

My recent encaustic-based work responds to the normalization of White Christian Nationalism, deconstructing thrifted “patriot” t-shirts mounted on artist panels and embalmed in the ancient medium of encaustic paint. Through assemblage and collage, these pieces present layered histories that expose the fragile notion of national identity.

Drawing from post-colonial theory and critical visual culture studies, my practice excavates collective memories across geopolitical borders. Working internationally—from Los Angeles to the Palestinian Territories—I’ve developed a fluid methodology that responds to complex social landscapes. Each project translates personal experience into broader narratives, converting pain into possibility.

I create works where personal and political memories breathe, where silence speaks, and transformation becomes possible.