- Biography -
Zulkifli Lee ( Raub, Pahang, Malaysia) is a versatile multi-disciplinary artist working in the mediums of painting, sculpture, print, and installation. Lee majored in Art and Design (Fine Art) and graduated with a BA from Universiti Teknologi MARA, and he pursued an MA (Fine Art and Technology) at the same university, receiving the Master’s Excellence Award in 2013.
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Lee’s practice explores the dynamic between personalized and impersonalized forms, using the language of materials. His works are often made from natural, organic mediums, such as soil, sand, and corrosion patina, juxtaposing the beauty of the relationship and paradox between humans and nature. Bridging Islamic aesthetic philosophies with contemporary principles and execution, Lee references traditional Islamic and Malay folk art to create minimal yet intricate compositions. His motifs usually involve systematic and rhythmic geometric patterns, but rather than striving for total control, he embraces the element of chance in the medium itself. Playing into the phenomenological aspect of the materials’ naturally occurring properties, Lee shares part of the image-making process with nature itself.
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Since 1999, Lee has exhibited extensively in galleries and institutions in Malaysia. As Rimbun Dahan’s Yearlong Resident Artist for 2017, he presented works inspired from the natural and built environments surrounding the private arts facility in his first solo exhibition Material, Order & Chance(2017). His recent selected group exhibitions include S.E.A New Generation (2019) Tang Contemporary, Bangkok, Thailand, Frictional (2018), Pearl Lam Galleries, Singapore, Lingering Manifestations (2018), Pearl Lam Galleries, Singapore; Bintang 5 (2018), Segaris Art Centre, Kuala Lumpur; Locals Only (2018), Taksu Gallery, Kuala Lumpur; The Unreal Deal (2017), Bank Negara Malaysia Museum and Art Gallery, Kuala Lumpur; and Young Contemporary ’16 (2017), National Visual Arts Gallery, Kuala Lumpur. Lee currently lives and works in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.