'My art relates to my background. If you look at traditional Malay art, it’s always from nature. And I am trying to look at nature from a different way,' says Zulkifli.
Currently based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Zulkifli Lee is a versatile multi-disciplinary artist practicing painting, sculpture, print, and installation. With a BA in Art and Design and a MA of Fine Art and Technology from UiTM Malaysia, Lee explores the dynamics between personalised and impersonalised forms, using the language of materials.
Working with a range of materials – both natural and man-made – juxtaposition is used to explore the beauty of the relationship as well as the paradox between humans and nature. Bridging Islamic aesthetic philosophies with contemporary principles and execution, Lee references traditional Islamic and Malay folk art to create minimal yet intricate compositions. His motifs usually involve systematic and rhythmic geometric patterns, but rather than striving for total control, he embraces the element of chance in the medium itself. Playing into the phenomenological aspect of the materials’ naturally occurring properties, Lee shares a part of the process with nature itself.
Since 1999, Lee has exhibited extensively in galleries and institutions in Malaysia. His recent selected group exhibitions include S.E.A New Generation (2019) Tang Contemporary, Bangkok, Thailand; Frictional (2018), Pearl Lam Galleries, Singapore; Lingering Manifestations (2018), Pearl Lam Galleries, Singapore; Locals Only! (2018), TAKSU, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; The Unreal Deal (2017), Bank Negara Malaysia Museum and Art Gallery, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; and Young Contemporary ’16 (2017), National Visual Arts Gallery, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. As Rimbun Dahan’s Yearlong Resident Artist for 2017, he presented works inspired from the natural and built environments surrounding the private arts facility in his first solo exhibition Material, Order & Chance (2017). In 2019, he completed his art residency with ACME Studio in London, UK. Lee’s artworks are also in the public collections of Khazanah Nasional, Malaysia; Singapore Art Museum (SAM), Singapore; Rimbun Dahan, Malaysia; Four Seasons Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Banyan Tree Signatures Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; and Far East Organisation, Singapore.
