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Wilson Lee
Primary Medium Wood
Description of Work My work represents the Black experience in America.
Chapter Midstate
Company/Business Lee Arts
Website https://www.leearts.com
Artist Statement
Wood has been a part of my life since birth. The first steps I took as a child were toward a bowl of shellac in my father?s shop. My earliest carvings were created when I was twelve years old. Later the creative spirit allowed me to speak about social issues through my carving. Someone had to offer comment for the record, I chose to speak through wood sculpture. Using mallet and chisel the goal is to capture the African American experience in America. I would like to paint a picture of reality in wood. Each work has meaning expressed in abstract images captured in relief and three dimensional form. The abstract expressions represent comment on issues, events, and beliefs, subjects that are often controversial. Reality for some is not pretty. The process involves transferring a thought, or concept, from mind to hand, to chisel, and onto wood. A dance occurs between me and the wood. We become one. The wood that once lived, lives again when the work is finished. I am inspirited by a child in church with one braid that won?t stay down, a person dancing alone in a dimly lit juke joint, or the paradox of justice in an unjust world. Works may also come from dreams that come to the surface in the middle of the night. My work parallels a career in higher education, a life of struggle, and a continuous desire to tell the story. The abstract facial expressions represent the social reality of a people. The works touch on subjects such as the blues, religion, gentrification, the crucifixion of women, the death of racism, family, social justice, hate, mystery, freedom, and spirits of ancestry. The stories the wood tells. If trees could talk, they would tell us what they have seen, what they have heard, what they have witnessed. I want to do justice to the wood, myself, and to God in each work. Underlying the abstract is a conceptual message that is often religious and justice conscious. Someone has to comment on the world for the record. I have always wanted to make a statement with my work. I chose to make my comments in wood.
Wood has been a part of my life since birth. The first steps I took as a child were toward a bowl of shellac in my father?s shop. My earliest carvings were created when I was twelve years old. Later the creative spirit allowed me to speak about social issues through my carving. Someone had to offer comment for the record, I chose to speak through wood sculpture. Using mallet and chisel the goal is to capture the African American experience in America. I would like to paint a picture of reality in wood. Each work has meaning expressed in abstract images captured in relief and three dimensional form. The abstract expressions represent comment on issues, events, and beliefs, subjects that are often controversial. Reality for some is not pretty. The process involves transferring a thought, or concept, from mind to hand, to chisel, and onto wood. A dance occurs between me and the wood. We become one. The wood that once lived, lives again when the work is finished. I am inspirited by a child in church with one braid that won?t stay down, a person dancing alone in a dimly lit juke joint, or the paradox of justice in an unjust world. Works may also come from dreams that come to the surface in the middle of the night. My work parallels a career in higher education, a life of struggle, and a continuous desire to tell the story. The abstract facial expressions represent the social reality of a people. The works touch on subjects such as the blues, religion, gentrification, the crucifixion of women, the death of racism, family, social justice, hate, mystery, freedom, and spirits of ancestry. The stories the wood tells. If trees could talk, they would tell us what they have seen, what they have heard, what they have witnessed. I want to do justice to the wood, myself, and to God in each work. Underlying the abstract is a conceptual message that is often religious and justice conscious. Someone has to comment on the world for the record. I have always wanted to make a statement with my work. I chose to make my comments in wood.
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