"When painting I'm brought back to simplicities, back to senses, and in a way, back to life. To surrender scripted plans and just listen to look, not knowing what will come is a trust-fall of sorts and an act of devotion."

Jivan Lee is an oil painter based in Santa Fe, NM. He grew up in Woodstock, NY and studied painting at Bard College. His work explores the nature of paint as raw material, creator of image, and catalyst for emotional response, and is increasingly addressing the complexities of how humans see and shape their environment.

His paintings are rhythmic, textural responses to the Western landscape in its many forms, from untrammeled wild lands to urban machinery to iconic chapels. Jivan paints on-location from direct observation, attempting to relay the unique sentiment of each moment and place that inspires his work.

The resulting paintings transition between abstract fields of color, topographical planes, and recognizable imagery; one can discern actual places and things in each piece, but simultaneously see that these images arise from paint - tangible substance - applied in bold, colorful, celebratory passages.

Jivan's paintings have been exhibited nationally at museums and educational institutions and covered in publications such as Fine Art Connoisseur, Southwest Art, Art Business News, and Plein Air Magazine. In addition to painting as much as time allows, Jivan also teaches and helms the Project for Art and the Environment. Jivan's work was featured on the cover of Southwest Art Magazine February 2015 issue.

Select Museum Exhibitions:

Blumenshein Museum, 2013

Millicent Rogers Museum, 2013

Montgomery Museum of Fine Art, 2012

Taos Art Museum, 2012

Metro State University Center for Visual Art, 2012

Jivan Lee’s oil paintings explore the raw material of paint to create images and emotional response. Based in Santa Fe and Taos, Lee is inspired by the landscape and artists of the southwest. He works on-site from direct observation and response to the physicality of the natural environment. His work is distinguished by thick brush strokes and a tactile, sculptural quality, applying paint with spatulas, brushes paper towels, bare hands, and even dirt.

The resulting pieces move between abstract fields of color, topographical planes, and recognizable imagery. Up close they celebrate paint for paint’s sake – luscious, colorful, moldable. When viewed at distance, the paintings collect into studies of light, architecture, recognizable figures, and landscapes – a transformation that highlights the relationships between raw material and familiar image, inviting visceral contemplation.

Lee is originally from Woodstock NY, and studied painting at Bard College. His paintings have been exhibited nationally at museums and educational institutions and covered in publications such as Fine Art Connoisseur, Southwest Art, Art Business News, and Plein Air Magazine. In addition to painting as much as time allows, Jivan also helms the Project for Art and the Environment and occasionally teaches.