Biography
Lee Cai Jun
李彩君
A contemporary multidisciplinary visual artist whose practice centres on ceramics, sculpture and installation, with an ongoing exploration of other materials and processes. Her practice is grounded in material research, particularly the physical and conceptual qualities of clay, and examines how materials can influence, transform and shape the development of an artwork.
She holds a Master of Arts in Contemporary Art Practice from Edinburgh College of Art, The University of Edinburgh (2012), and graduated with a Diploma with Distinction from Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA) (2006), majoring in Ceramics and minoring in Sculpture under the Georgette Chen Scholarship of Art.
Lee has participated in exhibitions, art events and artist residencies in Singapore, the United Kingdom, Japan, Malaysia and Hungary. Her recent practice, Colours of Clay Series, developed during her residency at Arts Itoya in Japan, it investigates the natural colours, textures and material characteristics of different clay bodies, exploring the relationship between clay and paper through sculpture and installation. In Singapore, Lee has curated and organised exhibitions including Contemporary Ceramics, 4 Elements, Clay.Sound, and Sky Island & Materiality.
Alongside her studio practice, Lee has more than 20 years of experience in arts education. She is an MOE Art & Music Instructor Scheme (AMIS) and National Arts Council Arts Education Programme (NAC-AEP) Art Educator, and previously taught at NAFA Junior Art Department from 2008 to 2010.
Artist Statement
As a multidisciplinary visual artist primarily trained in ceramics and sculpture, my practice explores the physical, conceptual and sensory possibilities of materials. Clay occupies a central position in my practice, while other materials expand my exploration across sculpture and installation. I am interested in the inherent qualities of materials—their colour, texture, structure, fragility and mutability—and how these qualities shape the development of an artwork.
I approach materials not simply as tools for executing a predetermined idea, but as active participants in the creative process. I explore the dialogue between intention and material response, allowing unpredictability to become part of the work.
My practice is informed by a fascination with cultural anthropology, particularly traditional customs, material cultures and narratives intertwined with the natural world. Encounters with different places and cultural environments have shaped my interest in how objects, rituals and materials reflect human relationships with nature, memory and the other realms.
Through this intersection of material research and cultural observation, my work seeks to create a space between the tangible and the imagined, where materiality, perception and imagination can coexist.