Artist Statement
I work with sound, moving image, installation and publishing to explore how we perceive the environments we inhabit. I am interested in the point at which sensation becomes an image, a memory or a form of knowledge, and in how that process shapes our relationships with other forms of life.
My practice grew out of printmaking. The slow work of inscribing a surface, repeating a gesture and building an image through successive layers taught me to attend to small changes. Early experiments with transparent plates, light and shadow opened that attention into space. I continue to work with duration and repetition, using materials that change as they are encountered. Listening has become a way to follow these changes and to question the habits through which we recognise a place.
Taoist ideas of transformation and ziran inform my understanding of nature as a process in which human life participates. Working between cultural and disciplinary contexts, I bring this perspective into dialogue with ecological research and contemporary technologies. Sensors, recordings and algorithms extend what can be perceived, while also introducing choices about what is measured, translated and heard.
In South of the Sea, an ongoing project begun in 2020, I explore Hainan’s tropical forests through field recording, moving image and collaboration. The research brings environmental histories into conversation with Li knowledge and the sounds of human and nonhuman life. HZ-0 translates environmental data into sound and light, allowing the conditions of a place to shape the work as it unfolds. The Word_, a 777-chapter artist book generated with AI from texts associated with ten religious traditions, turns to the relationship between language, belief and computational authorship.
Across these projects, I work with collaborators from music, technology and ecological research. Curating and teaching extend this practice through shared situations of looking, listening and making. I want the work to leave room for uncertainty: for the viewer or listener to notice how their own presence changes an encounter, and to consider forms of life and experience that exceed their immediate perception.
Biography
Lisa Chang Lee is a London-based artist, researcher and educator, born and raised in Beijing. Working across sound, moving image, installation, print and publishing, she investigates relationships between perception, technology and ecological knowledge. Her practice draws on Taoist philosophy and the material processes of printmaking, connecting questions of duration and transformation with contemporary environmental concerns.
Her ongoing project South of the Sea explores Hainan’s tropical forests through field recording, moving image and interdisciplinary collaboration. HZ-0 translates environmental data into sound and light, while The Word_ examines language, belief and authorship through an AI-generated artist book. Her practice also encompasses research-led curating, including Medium of Interfluidity for the fourth CAA Print in the Post-Print Triennial in Hangzhou in 2025.
Lee’s work has been presented at the Warburg Institute, London; Goethe-Institut China, Beijing; Power Station of Art, Shanghai; and the Seoul Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism. Solo presentations include The Word at Biblioteka, London, in 2024; HZ-0 at Enclave Projects, London, in 2022; and Present Absence at Ginkgo Space, Beijing, in 2021–2022. Her awards include the Vivien Leigh Bequest Purchase Prize from the Ashmolean Museum in 2018 and the Contemporary Art Trust Prize in 2019. Her work is held in collections including the Victoria and Albert Museum, the British Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art Library.
She holds a BA from the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing, and an MA in Print from the Royal College of Art, London. She is an Associate Lecturer in Photography at the Royal College of Art and a Guest Lecturer in Art and Science at Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London. She began her PhD at Kingston University in October 2026.
CV.
Lisa Chang Lee
Artist and researcher | London, United Kingdom
lisachangleestudio@gmail.com | www.lisachanglee.com
Education
2023–2025 Postgraduate study in education, MEd programme, Royal College of Art, London.
2012–2014 MA Print, Royal College of Art, London. Distinction.
2006–2010 BA Fine Art Printmaking, Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing.
Academic appointments and teaching
2022–present Associate Lecturer, Photography MA, Royal College of Art.
Personal tutorials, group critiques, assessment and feedback. Practice Group Leader, Expanded Photography and Sensory Narratives, during 2022–2024.
Recent Guest Lecturer, MA Art and Science, Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London.
2021–2022 Visiting Lecturer, Photography MA, Royal College of Art.
2019–2021 Visiting Lecturer, MA Print, Royal College of Art.
Tutorials and group critiques; additional invited lecture in 2018.
From 2020 Associate Lecturer and international lecture programme academic director, Sichuan Fine Arts Institute, Chongqing.
Designed and chaired lectures and discussions on expanded print and contemporary art.
2014–2018 Visiting Tutor, BA Printmaking, Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing.
2014 Visiting Lecturer, BA Fine Art, University of Plymouth and University of Brighton.
Lectures and individual tutorials.
Publications and writing
Journal publication
Gao, Shiyu, and Lisa Chang Lee. 2022. “The algorithm of nature in the age of global health and environmental crisis.” Journal of Contemporary Chinese Art 9 (1–2): 239–247.
https://doi.org/10.1386/jcca_00064_7
Co-authored contribution in the journal’s Conversations section.
Artist books and editions
2024 Lee, Lisa Chang. The Word_. Artist book. ISBN 9781916327412.
A 777-chapter work using AI and a database of texts from ten religious traditions to investigate language, belief and authorship. Project initiated by Lisa Chang Lee; programming by Thomas Lawanson and Arjan Guerrero; graphic design by Chunyang Yin. Edition of 50 + 2 artist’s proofs.
2015 Poem 91. Artist print and poetry publication.
2015 Touch and Sight [English translation of title]. Contributor to a print portfolio by 23 international artists.
2014 alt+ctrl+p. Contributor to a print portfolio, Royal College of Art.
Other writing and publication contributions
2024 “The Algorithmic Divine: Linguistic Structures in AI and Belief.”
Essay in the exhibition booklet for Salon for Speculative Future, Vestry Street Gallery, London.
2023–2024 Contributions to Parallel Institute Journal, Hangzhou.
Writing on expanded print, publishing as performance and sensory inscription; individual titles and publication details to be confirmed.
2017 Indeterminate Loop. Exhibition catalogue, Ginkgo Space, Beijing.
2013 Thought Machine. Publication contribution, University of Applied Arts Vienna.
Writing in development
Since 2021 South of the Sea — Notes on Sound, Species, and Storytelling.
Ongoing field notes and visual research essays.
2025 project “Medium of Interfluidity.”
Curatorial essay developed for the fourth CAA printmaking triennial catalogue; forthcoming.
2025 project “Perception as Method: Art, Ecology, and the Poetic Structure of Planetary Narratives.”
Lecture text and research essay associated with Fudan University; publication status to be confirmed.
Artistic research and curatorial practice
Ongoing artistic research
2020–present South of the Sea
Interdisciplinary investigation of Hainan’s tropical forest environments, environmental history, Indigenous Li knowledge and multispecies storytelling. Methods include field recording, moving image, community engagement and installation. Silent Chorus is a related sound and video output, screened with an artist talk at Goethe-Institut China in April 2025.
2021–present HZ-0
An evolving series of installations translating environmental conditions into sound and light. Presented at Enclave Projects in 2022; a commissioned edition was developed for Frida’s Paradox at Design Society, Shenzhen, in 2025.
2025–2026 HZ-0 Deep Time
Multichannel interactive sound installation combining environmental sensing with long-duration planetary datasets. Sound design by Dave Meckin. Exhibited in A Glimpse of the Infinite, the inaugural Shenzhen Art and Technology Biennale, 30 May 2026–30 April 2027.
2019–2024 The Word_
Artistic research in algorithmic language, sacred texts and publishing. Realised as an artist book and exhibited at Biblioteka, London, in 2024; included in Art and the Book at the Warburg Institute in 2025.
Curatorial research and exhibitions
2025 Medium of Interfluidity, fourth CAA Print in the Post-Print Triennial, China Academy of Art Museum, Hangzhou.
Panel curator and participating artist. Curatorial research into inscription, reproduction and translation across sound, code, image and material practice; concept development documented from 2022.
2023–2024 Beyond Lenses, Parallel Institute, Hangzhou. Curator.
2018 Five Trillion Times, Print Futures panel, second CAA International Printmaking Triennial, Hangzhou. Curator.
2016 A Lonely Impulse of Delight, Irish Embassy, Beijing. Curator.
2016 Far and Few Between, No Format Gallery, London. Curator.
2015 Repeat / Spiral, Renke Space, in association with the first CAA International Printmaking Triennial, Hangzhou. Curator.
2014 Sweden–China, touring contemporary art exhibition, Norrköping and Stockholm, in collaboration with Galleri Astley. Curator.
2014 / 2013 Wild at Heart and Weird on Top (2014) and In-visible (2013), CGP Gallery, London. Co-organiser.
Invited talks and research engagement
Lectures and conference contributions
2026 Keynote speaker, MA Industrial Design, Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London.
2026 Keynote speaker, design:data 2026, MA Design for Data Visualisation, London College of Communication, University of the Arts London.
Presentation on artistic approaches to data, sound, technology and ecological perception.
2025 Guest speaker, Restoration, the Arts and Resilience: Catalysing Impact and Learning for Conservation, Cambridge Conservation Initiative, Cambridge.
Event held 27–28 November.
2025 Guest speaker, Sound Beyond the Human World symposium, Royal College of Art, London. 27 November.
2025 Guest lecture, Art, Place and Interdisciplinarity in a Changing World, School of Philosophy and Fudan Art Institute, Fudan University, Shanghai. 29 April.
2025 The Travelling Gaze: Screening and Artist Talk, Goethe-Institut China, Beijing. 26 April.
Screening of Silent Chorus and discussion with anthropologist Yunkai Yang.
2023 Artist talk, Camberwell College of Arts, University of the Arts London. May.
2022 Artist talk, MA Photography, Royal College of Art, London. October.
2022 Artist talk, School of Fine Art, Oxford Brookes University. June.
2021 Artist talk, School of Fine Arts, Sichuan Fine Arts Institute, Chongqing. May.
2018 Artist talk, MA Print, Royal College of Art, London. October.
Research-led pedagogy and knowledge exchange
2025 Temporal Rhizomes: Sound, Image, and the Poetics of Repetition, Royal College of Art.
Workshop series for Photography MA students combining field recording, moving image, collective editing and sound.
2020–2022 International lecture and discussion series, Sichuan Fine Arts Institute.
Programme design and chairing for discussions of expanded print and contemporary art, including the series recorded in Chinese as 无限复叠 and 无限复叠 II. Speakers included Helen Cammock, Jo Stockham, Marianne Keating, David Blandy and Wiebke Leister among 24 international artists.
2021 Cross-college webinar, Royal College of Art and Central Academy of Fine Arts. Organiser.
Collaboration development
From 2025 Art and conservation knowledge exchange
Development of research and teaching exchanges involving the Zoological Society of London, Cambridge Conservation Initiative and Royal College of Art, alongside dialogue with the Needham Research Institute and Fudan University. Proposed collaborations remain in development.
Selected exhibitions and presentations
Solo exhibitions and projects
2024 The Word, Biblioteka, London.
2022 HZ-0, Lake at Enclave Projects, London.
2021–2022 Present Absence, Ginkgo Space, Beijing.
2021 Symphony Zero, San Mei Gallery, London.
2020 Dreamers Awake, Ginkgo Space, Beijing, online.
2019 Serenade of the Woods, live performance, The Rattles Collective, London.
2019 The End and Beginning, In-Definite Scenario, Beijing.
2017 Indeterminate Loop, Ginkgo Space, Beijing.
Group exhibitions and biennials
2026–2027 A Glimpse of the Infinite, Shenzhen Art and Technology Biennale, Shenzhen International Museum of Art. 30 May 2026–30 April 2027.
2025–2026 Guangzhou Image Triennial, Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou.
2025 Medium of Interfluidity, fourth CAA Print in the Post-Print Triennial, Hangzhou.
2025 Where the Sea Reaches, He Xiangning Art Museum, Shenzhen.
2025 Frida’s Paradox, Design Society, Shenzhen. Commissioned HZ-0 edition.
2025 Art and the Book, Warburg Institute, London.
2025 DBN Prelude — Decolonial Gaze, Goethe-Institut China, Beijing.
2024 Symphony of Senses, West Bund Art Centre, Shanghai; Salon for Speculative Future, Vestry Street Gallery, London.
2023 A Thousand Silicon Eyes, Power Station of Art, Shanghai; Atlas of Affinities Vol. 2: Scores for Movement, HUA International, Berlin.
2023 Us, Amid Nature and After Nature, Art Museum of Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts, Guangzhou; Garden of Souls, Hypha Studios, London.
2022 Fellows, SNAP Art Centre, Shanghai.
2021 Interdependency, Chengdu Biennale invited exhibition, Chengdu; ImPressions Printmaking Biennale, Galway International Arts Festival.
2021 / 2019 Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, London.
2019 Seoul Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism, Seoul; Latent Spectators, UNart Centre, Shanghai.
2018 Visions Moving Image Biennial, Nunnery Gallery, London; Unstable Landscape, M100 Art Centre, Santiago; Aesthetica Art Prize, York Art Gallery.
2017 Ideals on the Move, Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism/Architecture, Shenzhen.
Funding awards and professional record
Grants and awards
2022 Printmaking Today Prize, United Kingdom. Winner.
2020 Arts Council England grant, United Kingdom.
2020 Jerwood / Printmaking Today Prize. Shortlisted.
2019 Contemporary Art Trust Prize, United Kingdom.
2019 Collective City artist film programme, Seoul Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism. Runner-up prize.
2019 Art Power 100 China. Nominee.
2018 Vivien Leigh Bequest Purchase Prize, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. Winner.
2018 Aesthetica Art Prize. Shortlisted.
2018 Awards of Art China. Nominee.
2016 Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers Prize. Winner.
2013 Royal College of Art Drawing Prize.
Artist residencies
2021 Cordts Art Foundation and GeKA, Berlin, Germany.
2019 Galleri Astley, Uttersberg, Sweden.
2018 Molten Capital, Santiago, Chile; CHAO Printmaking Centre, Beijing, China.
2015 Grafikverkstan Godsmagasinet, Uttersberg, Sweden.
Institutional collections
Victoria and Albert Museum, London; The Royal Collection, United Kingdom; British Museum, London; Ashmolean Museum, Oxford; Xuhui Art Museum, Shanghai; Metropolitan Museum of Art Library, New York; Joan Flasch Artists’ Book Collection, Chicago; Printmaking Department, Royal College of Art, London; Printmaking Department, Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing.
Research and teaching methods
Field recording; sound and moving-image installation; environmental sensing and data sonification; experimental publishing and artist books; expanded print; research-led curating; tutorials, group critique and interdisciplinary workshop design.
Languages
English and Mandarin Chinese.
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