JULIE LEE

All That She Has is a piece that touches upon migration, religion, and the pursuit of the American Dream. The laundry sheet envelope is dyed the iconic shade of blue representing the Virgin Mary and is stitched with white crosses. The envelope serves as a shelter for the fragile image of an immigrant woman, as well as her small possessions (a rosary and an image of Christ). Here, this woman’s pursuit of comfort is wrapped in blind faith and endless prayers.

Through collage and photography, I create work that investigates past lives, their absence and presence, and what eventually remains of them. In my pieces, the subjects tend to be ghostly beings of my family and the vibrancy of their existential traces (a discarded rosary, a worn-out watch, a pressed flower collection...). I create these images to reflect Bill Shapiro's idea of the fourth death, which is the moment that the last remaining picture of an individual is seen for the final time. My family are depicted as intimate strangers who have their realities laid bare before the viewer's eyes, leaving only questions and half-truths. The processes involved in the art-making allow for new ways of seeing and being seen, of speculating, and of historical and psychological reconstruction.

My work pulls from found images of my loved ones (found in scrapbooks, notebooks, family albums, and so on) where their beings and memories are shown and centered. Alongside these images are belongings and items that are of personal significance to their experiences. With these materials, I create compositions with gestures and actions, such as burying an image with flowers or surrounding someone's baby photos with rice, through the mediums of photography and collage. The medium of the camera and collage allows for these compositions to exist and evolve in any shape or form they need to keep living. These works I create tend to capture the temporary nature of the existences of my loved ones, while also honoring and cherishing them for their being and beauty.

As an artist, archivist, storyteller, daughter, and more, I hope that my work serves as an investigative DIY conspiracy board that is unraveling and revealing, affirming traces of existence.

Julie Lee (she/her) is a Korean-American artist from Alabama working primarily in photography and collage. She is a senior, pursuing a BFA (Bachelor of Fine Arts) at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) and is residing in Pittsburgh, PA.

When she is not in the classroom, she can be found holding onto old family photographs and precious heirlooms. Through collage and photography, her work explores themes of ancestry, time and care, and the idea of the photograph as existential affirmations.

Her work has been exhibited in Woman Made Gallery, Columbia University's PostCrypt Gallery, the Curated Fridge, and the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh. Her work has also been featured in publications such as the Journal of Art Criticism, Yale University's Asterisk* Journal of Art and Art History, and Hyperallergic.