Artist Statement

Lisa Chang Lee is a Chinese artist, researcher, and educator whose interdisciplinary practice explores the entanglements between ecology, language, sound, and technology. With a background in visual art and sound-based research, her work consistently draws from indigenous epistemologies, spiritual traditions, and ecological thought—particularly in relation to the Global South and East. She has exhibited internationally and often works collaboratively across disciplines to reframe the landscape not as a passive backdrop, but as a living archive of memory, resistance, and kinship.

Her recent projects—ranging from immersive sound installations to artist books generated from sacred texts—investigate the poetics of disappearance, the politics of listening, and the tension between modernity and ancestral knowledge systems. She has worked closely with communities in China’s southern tropics, particularly Hainan, exploring the sonic practices of minority ethnic groups in relation to environmental change and colonial history. Her interest in voice, myth, and site-specific storytelling stems from a belief that listening—especially to places—can reconfigure our understanding of cultural identity and ecological interdependence.

Currently a lecturer at the Royal College of Art in London, Lisa bridges academic research and artistic practice, guiding emerging artists in experimental approaches to sound, image, and ecocritical methods.

Biography

Lisa Chang Lee is a multimedia artist based in London and Beijing. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Fine Art from the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing (2010) and a Master’s degree in Print from the Royal College of Art in London (2014).

Currently, she is an associate lecturer at the Royal College of Art and a visiting lecturer for an MA in art and science at Central Saint Martins, UAL.

In recent years, Lee has exhibited her work internationally, including at M100 Contemporary Art Centre (2018, Chile); Seoul Biennale (2019, Korea); York Art Gallery (2018, UK); Shenzhen/HK Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism/Architecture (2017, China), among others. She has also presented several solo exhibitions and experimental projects at Ginkgo Space (Beijing), San Mei Gallery (London), and Enclave (London). Recent prizes and awards she has received include the nomination for Art Power 100 China (2019, China); Contemporary Art Trust Prize (2019, UK); Runner-up Prize (special mention) for Collective City, Seoul Biennale (2019, Korea); the nomination for Awards of Art China (2018, China); Vivien Leigh Prize from the Ashmolean Museum (2018, UK); and Aesthetica Art Prize shortlist (2018, UK). Her work is included in the permanent collections of institutions such as the Victoria and Albert Museum (UK), The Royal Collection (UK), the British Museum (UK), the Ashmolean Museum (UK), and the Metropolitan Museum Library (US).