Maia Ruth Lee's process consists of wrapping an outer material (in this case a table cloth) over bundles of used bedding and clothes. Then with ropes in a specific gridded pattern the bundle is bondaged and painted over with India ink. Once dry, the constraints are removed, revealing a deeply layered surface that is both physically and pictorially marked through the application of the binds and surface treatment. The artist’s family moved from South Korea to Nepal in her childhood, with Ruth Lee crediting this binding technique to the ways in which the Nepalese wrap their luggage. A visit to Nepal in the artist’s adult years had her reconsidering this rich process, repurposing it as a meditation on migration and living within a diaspora.
Born in Busan, South Korea in 1983, Maia Ruth Lee lives and works in Salida, Colorado. The artist was included in The Whitney Biennial in 2019, and recent exhibitions include solo shows at the MCA Denver; Francois Ghebaly Gallery, Los Angeles; Tina Kim Gallery, New York and Jack Hanley Gallery, New York. Ruth Lee holds a BFA from Hongik University, Seoul, South Korea, and was awarded the Gold Art Prize in 2021 and the Rema Hort Mann grant in 2017. Her work is held in the public collection at the Whitney Museum of American Art.
