Donald Lee

Inspired by the beauty and complexity of Chinese characters, Donald Lee contemplates how Chinese writing came to be, and how countless named and unnamed creative individuals throughout history contributed to the formation of thousands of abstract characters.

To partake in this continuum, but with different intents, Donald explores his own personal way of creating and expressing abstract characters through a process sequence that involves drawing, writing and painting.  His characters are neither derived nor evolved from existing writing. They are newly invented and asemantic. Their forms are distinct (like fingerprints) and recognizable (like faces), and become "artist model" for his paintings. Donald named them “Drawing Script” (繪篆).

Donald sees writing as a type of drawing, exercises drawing in the form of writing, and employs invented characters as the subject of his paintings.  His practice is driven by his interest in visualizing how things come together and in deepening his awareness of the nature of becoming.

Line-by-line, he observes the becoming of drawing.

Character-by-character, he contemplates the becoming of writing.

Colour-by-colour, he explores the becoming of painting.

From drawing to writing to painting, he studies the nature of becoming.