Lindy Lee A world of dew, and within every dewdrop a world of struggle

30 July –
27 August 2022

Lindy Lee

Burning rain

, 2021
Fire, paper
155 x 103cm

The title of Lindy Lee’s exhibition is a haiku by Japanese poet Kobayashi Issa. Within Ch’an (Zen) Buddhism and Lee’s artistic vocabulary, the metaphor of dew drops – and entire worlds contained within them – has been consistently deployed to convey the transience of human existence and the cyclical nature of time.

This exhibition brings together paper-based and sculptural works made from 2008 to the present day. A new flung bronze wall sculpture entitled Fragmenting Firmament is accompanied by a series of large-scale works on paper made with fire, Chinese Ink, pencil, and photographic portraiture.

Following the announcement of Ouroboros (2024), an immersive public sculpture commissioned by National Gallery of Australia, and the touring survey exhibition, Moon in a Dewdrop, curated by the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Lindy Lee’s new exhibition A world of dew, and within every dewdrop a world of struggle continues the artist’s exploration of humanity’s interconnectedness with the cosmos.

Lindy Lee is one of Australia’s preeminent contemporary artists. With a practice spanning more than four decades, her work has been exhibited widely throughout Australia, Canada, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore and the United States. Selected solo and group exhibitions include: Lindy Lee: Moon in a Dew Drop, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, 2020; Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art: Divided Worlds, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, 2018; Infinite conversations: Asian-Australia Artistic Exchange, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, 2018; Lindy Lee: The Dark of Absolute Freedom, UQ Art Museum, Brisbane, 2014; and Birth and Death, Campbelltown Arts Centre, Sydney, 2007.

Lee’s work is held in major public collections including the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra; Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney; National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne; Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide; Queensland Art Gallery + Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane; Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth; Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Sydney; as well as regional and private collections throughout the world.

Artist’s profile