Here, we ask designers to take a selfie and give us an inside look at their life.
Age: 45
Occupation: Artist.
Instagram: @rainajlee
Hometown: Palos Verdes, CA.
Studio location: Los Angeles.
Describe what you make: I make ceramic objects, sometimes with disturbing glazes. I make the glazes as well—the more disturbing the better. I create colors and textures found in nature using compounds such as cobalt, copper, iron, nickel, magnesium, and tin. I’m driven by the materials and seeing how much I can get them to do what I want.
The most important thing you’ve designed to date: Regarding my work, my methodical glaze testing process. I make dozens of glazes at once and test for colors, textures, and volume on a variety of surfaces.
Describe the problem your work solves: Time travel. Touching a moment in the past or future through creating an object from the past or future.
Describe the project you are working on now: At the moment I’m experimenting with applying kintsugi or lacquer gold mending to various small cracks on my pieces. Firing clay results in cracks or breakages at some point, and it’s better to work with them than against them.
A new or forthcoming project we should know about: My first ever solo exhibition “Homeworld” (Feb. 12–April 2) is at Stroll Garden in Los Angeles. It’s a collection of large-scale vessels that draw upon ancient Greek, Iranian, and Chinese ceramics as well as reproductions of Chinese antiques my parents had at home.
With these new pieces, I apply massive amounts of glaze on bigger, thicker versions of shapes I’ve worked with before. Doing so has interestingly changed the physics and structure of the work, most notably the glaze behavior. By increasing the thickness of the clay, it can absorb more glaze, so I really laid it on thick. My sculptural glazes, full of fissures and volcanic explosions, become puffy and more layered. One volcanic vessel resulted in craters upon craters, like they were inside each other.
What you absolutely must have in your studio: A space heater, three fans, and a personal swamp cooler. I’m a Southern Californian with a small window of comfort.
What you do when you’re not working: First yoga, then books, then baking cakes, then estate sales.
Sources of creative envy: Basaltic columns, geothermal pools, oyster shells, NASA image gallery photos.
The distraction you want to eliminate: Online designer resale shopping.
Concrete or marble? Marble.
High-rise or townhouse? Treehouse.
Remember or forget? Both.
Aliens or ghosts? Space invaders.
Dark or light? Bioluminescence.
