Jane Lee is one of Singapore’s most noted contemporary artists. She is best known for her inventive techniques and innovative use of materials. She explores the very nature of the way paintings are constructed by treating the components of a painting—stretcher, canvas, and the paint itself—in new ways. In the process, she is re-examining the significance of painting and the relevance of contemporary art practice.

The surfaces of her paintings are highly tactile and sensuous, often dimensional enough to be considered sculptures. In some cases, Lee dispenses with canvas altogether, extruding acrylic paint directly on wooden stretchers, which results in a hollow, three-dimensional object, with the paint at the bottom seemingly giving in to the force of gravity. Another of Lee’s techniques is to create works that appear to move: they fall, unroll, hang or droop, suggesting, in the process, everyday objects (a hose, a carpet, a door). The paintings are mounted on the wall, the floor, and in the corners of rooms. With this strategy of activating the spaces in which her works are being presented, she uses space itself as a medium.



Jane Lee has won numerous awards, including the Celeste Prize for painting in 2011. She was a finalist for the 2007 Sovereign Art Prize and was the first recipient of the Singapore International Residency Art Prize in 2007. Her work, Raw Canvas, was showcased at the Singapore Biennale 2008 and Collectors Stage at the Singapore Art Museum in 2011.



Jane Lee has a BA in fine arts and a diploma in fashion from LASALLE College of the Arts in Singapore. She has participated in numerous exhibitions in museums and galleries in Asia and Europe, among them the Singapore Art Museum, the Hong Kong Arts Centre, and the Contemporary Art Centerin in Vilnius, Lithuania.