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Go on a Rollercoaster Ride with Paper Cutout Art

Bovey Lee can "draw with a knife," and the results are beautiful.
All images courtesy the artist

Anyone who’s ever moved cross country knows that it’s an overwhelming, frustrating, and almost impossibly challenging endeavor. But rather than just screaming into a pillow the way most of us do the night before we load up our U-Hauls, Bovey Lee channeled her feelings about her move from Pittsburgh to Los Angeles into the delicate, incredibly intricate hand-cut paper works on display at her new solo show Divertical, which opens at the Gavlak Gallery on January 9th.

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Rice paper has been central to Lee's practice since she began studying Chinese calligraphy at age ten. These days, however, rather than rendering scenes on rice paper with pen or paint brush, the Hong Kong native “draws with a knife,” depicting ornate worlds through paper cutouts. Inspired by her recent move, rollercoasters wind through and around these latest works, taking viewers who follow them through a web of twists and turns. Each piece also features a figure engaged in a balancing act such as surfing, cycling, or walking a tightrope. "In these works, I also draw parallels between one’s romantic relationship and our relationship with nature. While seeking balance, eternity, stability, and harmony in both relationships, the journeys we take on are often complex, dramatic, changing, and lopsided,” writes Lee. "But there is also incredible beauty, energy, richness, and even whimsy in chaos and imperfections through the ups and downs, and trial and error."

For more information on Bovey Lee's work, click here.

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