Lee Su is a Chinese-American born in Vietnam and educated at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) in Providence, Rhode Island. Through RISD's European Honors Program, he also studied for a year in Rome, Italy. Lee worked previously as an architectural designer and now creates and teaches art full-time. Lee explores color, space, light and time through 2D drawings, 3D sculptural models and animation that simulates 4D. In making his work, Lee hopes to gain more understanding of the scientific subject matter he is investigating by examining interrationships and seeing his subject matter through various perspectives not normally looked at.

Lee sees making art as his compass in life and a major influence of his thought process. Since childhood, he has used drawing as a aid to understanding and exploring intellectual concepts. During high school, under the mentorship of a RISD alumna, Ms. Barbara Hughes, Lee used his visualization ability to master the subjects he studied in science and to learn new skills in art. In college, he earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts and another for Architecture. Lee continues to gain unconventional comprehension of life by making visual works. He explains, "The acts of drawing and constructing allow me to decipher abstract ideas and phenomena that I vaguely grasp when exposed to them solely through written and spoken language. When I perceive them through my senses, my understanding is magnified. Perhaps it is because I started to learn my primary language, English, at the age of eight. I never developed sufficient trust in the written or spoken word and grew to rely on that which is visual and tangible instead. The process of 'thinking through making' became my way of exploring ideas rationally and intuitively."

Lee finds inspiration from life and scientific research. His two and three-dimensional creations are relics left over from investigations of color, light and space. He says, "I don't allow any specific medium to restrict my art. Instead, I learn and use that which best facilitates the exploration of the particular concept." His range of media include work such as the traditional watercolor of light shown below as well as computer-generated graphics and animation exploring various topics including his studies of fourth-dimensional space. He adds, " I am not restrained by academic convention-- my method of investigation is not a linear one but a tangential flow through a mass of gathered information. Relationships that are found generate the works before you."

Lee considers himself a creative, problem-solving artist, instructor, and designer. His search for solutions utilizing primarily graphical methods is useful to researchers of language and learning with both animals and people with disabilities. Some commercial applications for Lee's skills include graphic design, interactive design, and industrial and architectural design.

Lee offers group and private art lessons in drawing, painting and animation. Lee's primary goal in teaching is to instill the "joy of making". His philosophy is that the act of making art allows the human mind to be freed from its reliance on logical thinking and lets the imagination shine through. He says, "Learning from exploration with one's senses is a method that should not be dismissed lightly.The process of creating with one's hands leads to curiosity and the desire to employ one's mind. Additionally, art not only results from inspiration but is also a source of inspiration. Pragmatic improvements are made using innovations from all areas of design; social consciousness is inspired by icons like the Statue of Liberty. My goal is to guide my students towards curiosity, awareness, and positive mental activity by first helping them feel the joy of making."

To see more examples of his work, go to http://www.lee-su.com. Or click here to check out his shop on Etsy.