Artist Raime Lee
Congratulations to Raime Lee who placed as a finalist in the 5th Edition!
Who are you?
My name is Raime. I am an artist from Michigan, USA. It took me almost three decades to begin my life as an artist. The threads were there all along, from my artist grandmother permitting me, a toddler, to splash around messy paints in her basement, to being told during my yearly graphic design scholarship review that I should consider a career as a fine artist. I did almost anything to subconsciously avoid the inevitable truth that I was an artist. I chased a softball career through many spring and summer seasons, following its lead to different states, different countries, two universities, and, then, to its end that came after two concussions my senior season.
I still remained in the world of sport for a time, working for an international sports organization abroad in South Africa. But, I had the feeling that my athletic life was coming to a natural close. Without little direction for the future, I moved home. I unintentionally met my now fiancé, who is the sole reason I am painting today. He noticed my natural inclination toward the visual arts and encouraged me to follow that curiosity. Hours of researching creative careers led me to the illustration program at Kendall College of Art and Design in 2018.
During my first semester, my father died suddenly. This moment brought my entire world to a halt. This man who poured so much of his life into mine, who challenged me on the field and off, who encouraged me to ask the big questions, to question everything, was gone. I was no longer able to reach for him, no longer able to ask him a quick design question here and there. I had to face that reality, and during my first week back at class, I had to face my first attempt at oil painting. I had only been briefly acquainted with them once or twice prior to this assignment, and I felt the weight of this exploration; I respected the materials and the history of which I knew very little.
The only way I could do this first oil portrait assignment was to paint something immediate, something true. And, to be completely Hemingway about it, what is more true than death? So, I painted my father. I leaned into the inherent darkness that I felt and learned from the pain of loss. I felt like, for the first time, I was doing what I was truly supposed to be doing. I was lost in my dad’s favourite songs and in his absence, but I was also lost in a new world of emotion and colour.
In losing my father, I found my purpose and, subsequently, my life.
“Concession” [Winning work]
By Raime Lee
Oil on Panel
What inspired you to begin utilizing oil paint as a medium?
That first oil portrait I spoke about in the previous question truly broke open this whole new world to me. I could push and pull colour and value in a way I hadn’t been able to do with any medium I’d known yet. I loved drawing with graphite, charcoal, and ink and had just completed my first watercolour as well, but I became enthralled with oil’s ability to add more complexities and subtleties to a composition. I also have great respect for the history of oil painting, and I wanted to join that conversation.
“Johnny”
By Raime Lee
Oil on Linen
Can you discuss the inspiration and thought process behind your winning work "Concession"?
“Concession” was painted during the pandemic from a live model session hosted virtually by the New York Academy of Art in 2021. I will leave you with its accompanying poem to tell the rest:
How long has it been
since unstifled breath filled my lungs,
since warm breeze filled our endless summer?
I concede, then.
Let winter swallow me whole,
let its depths hold me captive in time.
I concede, then.
How long it has been.
“It Was You”
By Raime Lee
Oil on Linen
What drew you to explore portraiture?
Since my first oil painting was a portrait assignment, I didn’t have a choice. But, I was excited because so much emotion is communicated in the face. And, while, portraiture is a vital part of my practice, it is only one aspect of my work. I consider myself a representational artist, who focuses on the figure.
What do you hope to communicate with your work?
I use the figure as a vehicle to guide the viewer inward. I am intensely focused on the inner world of the individual, and how that influences the sum of the human experience. I investigate melancholic states and themes of life, death, and love by using both figure and environment in my image-making. I seek to face the uncomfortable depths within to better understand the breadth of sorrow and love that coexist together. And, in making my work from that place, I invite my viewers to do the same.
“What Once Was”
By Raime Lee
Charcoal
Do you have a particular piece that you view as your most accomplished? Why?
I am still pleased with the way “Concession” came together. It was the first time I felt I had this wild beast of a medium somewhat tamed. The expression and colours on her painted face matched how I felt at that moment. It just so happens that many others have felt drawn to this painting as well. It was just awarded the Certificate of Merit in the New York Figurative Art show at the Salmagundi Club. This accomplishment or marker is confirmation to me that other people want to connect to that place within themselves and others.
“Lost & Found”
By Raime Lee
Oil on Linen
Can you sum up the totality of what your work represents in one word?
Truth.
Can you discuss why you chose painting as a medium for your work and voice as opposed to others?
Painting feels so second nature to me. I believe my love for oil paint is both spiritual and physical. Things clicked for me when I used oil that didn’t click as easily with other mediums. I also love that it feels and behaves most like the natural elements I am trying to paint.
“Quiet Contemplation”
By Raime Lee
Oil
Have you experimented with other mediums? If so, which ones and how?
Though oil painting is my favourite medium, I don’t limit myself to using only oil paint. I actually finished my first sculptures this summer at the Summer Undergraduate Residency Program at the New York Academy of Art. Working in a three dimensional way changed the way I approached the figure in my painting, and, then, in my drawing as well. But, there are these other dimensions of photography, music, and cinema that I love and hope to explore again in future projects.
I am an artist first; my artistry is in the way I see the world and in the way, I think. If I have an idea or a composition in mind, I then have to decide which medium is the best vehicle to get this thing out into the world. Which medium will frame the concept most successfully?
Can you talk about your biggest learning experience during the process of creating your works?
I cannot point to one big experience but rather many small learning experiences that add up to invaluable lessons in painting (and in life, too). They can happen between brushstrokes or between painting sessions. They can happen while I am painting or while I am sitting on my couch looking at the way the light falls on the ceiling. I learn a lot of lessons in value and hue every time I mix my paint. I sometimes mix a colour to find that the temperature is spot on, but the value is wrong. That is a crucial lesson that I wage I’ll still be learning years from now.
“When The Dust Settles”
By Raime Lee
Oil
Can you discuss your biggest success since starting your artistic journey?
My biggest successes are each time someone accurately describes my work back to me but even more so when words aren’t needed to confirm understanding. When I can look into a viewer’s eyes and see what they really see, that is a success.
What projects are you working on currently? Can you discuss them?
My current project unpacking my studio from our recent move. But, once that comes together I will get back to working on a few larger pieces that focus on the entire figure(s). These pieces focus on the inner world and the experiences of love and loss that encapsulate human existence.
“Self Isolation Portrait”
By Raime Lee
Oil