Lee's prima materia is his own body.
Ritualistic transformations are used to convey ideas about masculinity, loss and the body's deterioration. Lee sees the body as a link between our internal and external worlds.
He has made installations and live performances throughout the UK since 1999. In all his performances Lee marks the surfaces he encounters. These traces become part of the installations, developing during the performances. He uses clay, and other materials, to cover his body so that his body becomes the sculpture and the 'brush'. His body has marked surfaces from paper and canvas to glass and walls; while showing the male body transformed, and arguably, anonymous.
Lee's intention is to let the viewer project onto the work their concerns. He hopes the live performance engages people and moves them to think about their own corporeal existence.
Acknowledgments
- Video Editing - Steve Brown, Romain Forquy, Aaron Kay, Philip Lee (Corpus Slip I, Corpus Slip II, Pillowcase Slip)
- Video Filming -
- Steve Brown - White I and II, Water I, Stream, Slip XI, Slip IX
- Bruce Currie - White II, Slip V, Stable VI, Colours I
- Alex Dewart - Corpus Slip II
- Helen Mansfield - Slip II, Slip VI
- Glynis Neslen - Slip V
- Romain Forquy - Stable V, Earth
- Philip Lee - White III and IV
- Arnaud Moinet - Sitting Slip I
- Jane Ravtsova - Corpus Slip I
- Cally Trench - Pillowcase Slip
- Bethan Williams - Slip VII
- Photography -
Clarisse d'Arcimoles, Arvinder Bawa, Ilenia Bombardi, Holly Brown, John Butler, Marco Cali, Alicia Correi, Bruce Currie, Stephanie Davis, Julia Davy, Beth Elliott, Régine Elliott, Sumer Erek, Graham Evans, Alison Finnieston, Romain Forquy, Judy Goldhill, Steve Hubber, Chris Hurford, Chris Jepson, Kasia Kaczmarczyk, Seb Kassier, Fung King, Sophie Loss, Duncan Loughrey, Veronica Pérez Karleson, Tony Moody, Naomi Schillinger, Jonathan Slater, Cally Trench, Marina Wade, Nigel van Beek, Charlotte Wiig, Gerry Williams - Web Site - Theo Gray