Portrait of an artist: Lindy Lee AO

Join us for a conversation with celebrated artist Lindy Lee AO, one of Australia’s most influential and respected contemporary artists.

With a practice spanning over 40 years, grounded in her Chinese heritage and shaped by Taoist and Buddhist philosophy, Lee translates these concepts into striking, meditative forms that often engage with light, fire and elemental processes. Her work, drawing on themes of identity, ancestry and cosmology, explores the interconnectedness of all things.

Lee rose to national prominence with Moon in a Dew Drop at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia in 2020, one of its most visited exhibitions. Her major survey Myriad Stars Between Myriad Worlds is currently touring across China. In 2024, Lee was commissioned by the National Gallery of Australia to produce her most ambitious work to date: the immersive sculpture Ouroboros, a 13-tonne work evocative of a snake eating its own tail, symbolising cycles of birth, death and renewal.

In 2024, she was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia for her significant contribution to contemporary art and cultural leadership.

In conversation with Sally Brand, Curatorial Manager of Australian Art at QAGOMA, this event will explore Lee’s evolving practice, the development of her large-scale public works, and the ideas that continue to shape her artistic vision.

About Portrait of an artist
This event is part of Portrait of an artist, a series showcasing the James C Sourris AM collection of artist interviews held at State Library. Audiences will experience a screening of Lindy Lee’s interview, followed by an in-conversation and Q&A session.

Generously supported by James C Sourris AM through the Queensland Library Foundation.

Image: Lindy Lee, date unknown, photographed by Elise Derwin. Image courtesy of Sullivan+Strumpf.