Haven Lee
Haven Lee is a visual and sculptural artist more or less born and raised in the smokey Appalachian mountains surrounding Asheville, NC. After discovering his love of art at a small arts-focused middle school near the Penland School of Craft, he set his sights on becoming a professional artist/designer. During his time stuck at home and indoors because of the pandemic, Haven fell in love with digital painting and takes inspiration from the likes of Artem Chebokha, Robert Stacy, and Aaron Blaise. In his free time, Haven enjoys virtually spending time with friends, professionally procrastinating, playing soccer, and snow skiing in the winter months. With a recent acceptance into the high school visual art program of the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, Haven hopes to improve as an artist and determine his next steps towards his professional goals.
Past Work
Residency Work
I often find that artwork, and in most cases, its surrounding environment, is too serious. That gallery halls and intricately carved golden frames force the viewer to join it in a quiet, critical, contemplation, which usually snuffs out any other ways that an observer might go about expressing their thoughts or praise of a piece. Furthermore, the surrounding environment of a painting can affect how it is perceived. When you see a painting in a museum, it’s exactly what you expect, it’s exactly where you would expect a painting to be. There is nothing wrong with this per se, but there is also nothing captivating or intriguing about it. However, if that same painting were hung from a tree in the park, or a lamp post in the middle of a parking lot, it would implore those around it to notice it. To question it. To attempt to interpret and understand it in any way they see fit. In my opinion, when art is submerged into everyday life and crammed into places where you wouldn't expect to find it, the artwork transforms into something intensely exciting.
My series of wire sculptures were made to reject the sober pensiveness that art and its surroundings can have. And instead, embrace playful, child-like wonder and fascination in intentional synergy with the artworks surrounding environment. While my artwork was installed in public environments, I wanted the discovery of each piece to feel unique and personal, as if each viewer was the first person to stumble upon it or notice it.
I also think it worth noting my inspiration from the graffiti artist Banksy. His playful commentary and clever use of location and placement in his installations were very helpful in both the conceptualization and installation of my artworks.
In the end, my series was cut a bit short, and I did not get to install as many pieces as I would have initially liked to. Through some series of events, High Point University began to take notice of my various pieces and requested that they be taken down. I’m not upset by this, however, as there is always an innate risk whenever art is placed outside of the gallery, that’s what makes it fun.