How Art is Born Season 2

Episode 8

TRANSCRIPTION

 

R. Alan Brooks (00:05):

Welcome to How Art Is Born, a podcast for the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver, about the origins of artists and their creative and artistic practices. I'm your host, R. Alan Brooks, writer, artist, and professor. Today I'm joined by Salida, Colorado based artist Maia Ruth Lee. Please say hello.

Maia Ruth Lee (00:20):

Hello, <laugh>. Thanks for having me.

R. Alan Brooks (00:23):

I appreciate you being here. So, uh, Maia, just to start us off, can you tell us a little about who you are?

Maia Ruth Lee (00:30):

Well? Um, I am a mother. I'm an artist. Um, I currently live in Colorado, um, as of two and a half years ago. And, um, I'm a thinker. Uh, I like to make stuff. Um, and I, yeah, that's, that's about it.

R. Alan Brooks (00:53):

Yeah. No, I mean, I think that's a good baseline. So I wanna know, uh, what, what was sort of your, do you remember the first time that art spoke to you in a particular way or inspired you?

Maia Ruth Lee (01:08):

You know, it's funny how art or, or how I was introduced to art. Um, it wasn't really introduced to me as art, but it was introduced to me through culture and I guess living. But yeah, I grew up in Capmandu, Nepal. Okay. And just by being in Nepal was just full of inspirations, um, through, uh, celebrations, through tradition, um, just walking the street, just knowing Nepali people, um, their traditions, um, and their religion. It was just part of life, I think. And just by, by being there, by growing up, being there at such a young age mm-hmm. <affirmative>, um, I was there from about five years old until 18. Okay. So it was kind of the most spongy years, you know? Yeah.

R. Alan Brooks (02:08):

Like formative years, definitely.

Maia Ruth Lee (02:10):

Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, I really soaked it all in. That was my introduction to sort of creativity, I think.

R. Alan Brooks (02:16):

Okay. So that's interesting. Um, the idea that it wasn't introduced as art that you absorbed through culture. So I guess what specifically moved you? What, what did you feel most connected with in all of that?

Maia Ruth Lee (02:32):

I was really moved by, um, mostly people, but, you know, it really, you know, art wasn't hanging on the walls in museums or galleries. I had very little access to anything like that. Um, and Catman do, now, there are a number of museums and contemporary art galleries, but when I was there in the late eighties and nineties mm-hmm. <affirmative>, that just wasn't a thing, you know? Right. So for me, it was really just by participating in the everyday activities in life and by being around people. Um, you know, I grew up watching Bollywood and Yeah. Eating the poly food and, uh, walking by temples and secretly joining in, in ceremonies. Um, and, you know, in Nepal, art is prevalent in the by way of religion in terms of, you know, uh, monasteries, murals, um, Tonka paintings, crafts and arts. So it was really just like everywhere. Everywhere I turned to was like a beautiful shrine. Right. Uh, you know, kind of decorated with, you know, incredible ornaments. And I would turn around, there would be a beautiful temple with like beautiful ceremonies. Um, the streets were filled with color and, and beautiful sense. And to me, I, that was it. It's wild to think back on how that was my everyday life. Um, yeah. And only by leaving did I actually realize how unique and special that was.

R. Alan Brooks (04:25):

That's how it goes. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, I'm really interested in that aspect where you were saying that, um, you walk by the temples and join in ceremonies mm-hmm. <affirmative>, um, um, I like to hear more about what, what that meant to you. Like why, why, like, was it? Yeah. Tell me about that. I was

Maia Ruth Lee (04:40):

Just, I think a very curious child. I still am. Huh.

R. Alan Brooks (04:43):

Okay.

Maia Ruth Lee (04:43):

And just curiosity just got me to, um, ask a lot of questions. And because a lot of these ceremonies are religious, um, and my parents are religious in the opposite way in terms of, you know, they're Christian, they're very conserved Christians, so mm-hmm. <affirmative>, I had this extreme, extremely polarized kind of spiritual, uh, upbringing. Right. Um, so in a way, I was forced to think about spirituality from a very young age and about mortality, thinking about afterlife, thinking about incarnation, um, in the Buddhist or Hindu sense. And then Yeah. You know, in a Christian sense thinking about, you know, mortality in terms of heaven and hell and Right. Sin and guilt and <laugh>. You know, it was just like kind of a, an overload of these, like, very big, deep questions, I guess.

R. Alan Brooks (05:47):

Huh. That is a lot.

Maia Ruth Lee (05:48):

Yeah. Well, a lot <laugh>,

R. Alan Brooks (05:50):

Especially as a child. I, I wonder, uh, was there a clear moment for you where, uh, you decided you were going to make your own art, or whether you identified it's art? Or was that just kinda always like an organic thing for you?

Maia Ruth Lee (06:06):

Um, it's funny because, you know, I think my parents being very conservative Christian, I think in their mind they really wanted to rear me towards that direction. But we just happened to be living in Nepal where it was so rich with culture <laugh>. And so it was impossible for them, you know, it was just like I was seeped in it. Um, but I remember, you know, I think as part of their, uh, just sort of more like didactic or kind of more of like a disciplinary, um, uh, approach, they put me into an art school, which wasn't actually an art school. It was, um, a monastery where Buddhist monks painted Tonka paintings. <laugh>,

R. Alan Brooks (06:54):

Huh. Wow.

Maia Ruth Lee (06:55):

The Tonka paintings, if you're not familiar with it, they're, um, a style or a type of painting that is done by, uh, Buddhist monks and used for very specific, um, like meditation processes or, you know, depictions of deities in Gods mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Um, and they're beautifully painted in terms of like, you know, they, it's, it's prepared for days. The pigments are all natural. Um, the brushes are used with, you know, horse hair or yak hair, and, you know, these monks actually, uh, sit and paint these beautifully elaborate paintings for over the course of three, sometimes six months. So it becomes part of their meditation process. So they kind of like ushered me into this process mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And during that time, I just remember at first I was like, oh my God, like how am I gonna sit through this? I have to like, draw line by line. It's very delicate process. Right. Um, and then through it, I feel like I kind of gained this confidence of, oh, I kind of get it, you know, um, this is a really beautiful process and I was very young at the time, so, um, I think they accidentally put me into this situation where I became more connected with, with, with Buddhism or the process of, of art making in that kind of spiritual realm. So I think that was my first connection to art making in a way.

R. Alan Brooks (08:43):

Right. So, uh, you know, there's this thing where, uh, that comes up a lot when I'm talking to people on this podcast about how some art is specifically about healing you as an artist, and then some art is about, uh, what you wanna say to the world, and then sometimes it's both. Um, and it sounds like, if I'm hearing you right, that that first experience was largely about what the art did for you.

Maia Ruth Lee (09:12):

For sure.

R. Alan Brooks (09:13):

For sure. So, um, yeah. Did you have more to say on it?

Maia Ruth Lee (09:18):

Yeah, I never actually thought about it that way. Huh. But I think you're totally right. Um, okay. Was, it was a healing process that I didn't think I needed at the time.

R. Alan Brooks (09:29):

Ah, yeah. Hmm. And did, did you feel like, uh, after that you were sort of immediately in that space of, I wanna do more of this? Or was that sort of a gradual process?

Maia Ruth Lee (09:41):

I think I felt peace in that process. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And that was the first time I actually had felt that. And I was like, whatever this is, I need to hold onto it. Um, yeah. And I had no idea what that might look like, you know? Mm-hmm. <affirmative> what even being an artist even meant. Um, um, but I remember just thinking, this feels good.

R. Alan Brooks (10:05):

Ah huh. Okay. So then what would, what was like the next step for you just as a--in your creative journey

Maia Ruth Lee (10:13):

The next step was kind of severe, um, because, you know, my parents like, oh, you wanna, you wanna do art? Okay. Let's set up a whole structure for you. You know? So, um, they sort of created this whole program to send me to Korea to, um, study in an art university. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, that structure is very unique actually, because there's an entrance exam. Huh. The entrance exam requires, it's basically four hours of a rendering of a Greek bust.

R. Alan Brooks (10:47):

Huh. That's intense

Maia Ruth Lee (10:51):

<laugh>. The exam has changed since then, but at the time, that was what the examination was. And I was like, what? Like rendering Greek bust and also only with a four B pencil Wow. On an a two sheet of paper. So this is pretty big.

R. Alan Brooks (11:12):

Right.

Maia Ruth Lee (11:13):

So in order to pass that exam, you need to practice rendering a Greek bust for years, <laugh>. Right. Like every day <laugh>. So it kind of catapulted it into this very strict, very frustrating process of art making, because it wasn't, it didn't have to do with creativity. Um, and these Greek bus are like, you know, Venus, Apollo hallmark, these like white figures that are made of plaster. And you know, at the examination you have no idea which figure you're gonna get, which bus you're gonna get, or which angle you're gonna get of that bust Wow. To draw the hat. So if you think about like a very hardcore, like, strict technic technical education of art, like that's what it was. Hmm. So it kind of stripped away this like, joy for me. <laugh>

R. Alan Brooks (12:22):

<laugh>. It sounds very technical, but, but it's interesting because the thing that made you first interested in art was a very like, methodical, technical thing.

Maia Ruth Lee (12:33):

True.

R. Alan Brooks (12:34):

But in this case, uh, it was just about the, the pressure of it, or like, what was

Maia Ruth Lee (12:39):

Well, it was because, um, it was nonsensical.

R. Alan Brooks (12:46):

Ah,

Maia Ruth Lee (12:47):

It was totally nonsensical. It had no purpose.

R. Alan Brooks (12:50):

Right.

Maia Ruth Lee (12:51):

Um, I had no, I had no connection to these Greek mythological figures or, you know, philosophers or

R. Alan Brooks (12:59):

Yeah.

Maia Ruth Lee (13:00):

I had no idea why I had to draw them day after day. Right. And, and the pressure of, of course, that I had to render in high definition <laugh> in hyperrealism with a puzzle in four hours is close to impossible. So the reason why you practice every day is not because, uh, it's not just for the practice, it's for, it's because you end up memorizing

R. Alan Brooks (13:34):

Oh,

Maia Ruth Lee (13:34):

How to draw specific class.

R. Alan Brooks (13:36):

Yeah.

Maia Ruth Lee (13:38):

So it's almost like a memorization of the hand and, you know

R. Alan Brooks (13:41):

Well, I was gonna say, now you got me on a cliff hanger, cuz you, you said it robbed you with the joy, but, uh, what, what happened? Did you, did you do the exam? Did you--how did it go?

Maia Ruth Lee (13:48):

I did the--I did the exam and, you know, it was funny cuz the day before, you know, I was like, you know, nervous. I was at the art, uh, in Korea, they're called hug ones. Hug is where you basically study to get into the Ivy League. Okay. University you want to go to, and Korean education is very hardcore, but hug one, everyone goes to hug one for all the various topics that you wanna study. But I was at the HA one and my teacher said, you know what, let's draw Homer from a 45 degree profile angle. I was like, all right, let's do it. Yeah. The day of the exam, draw the hat. There's, you know, busts kind of situated all over this hall or this big, uh, auditorium and seats around it, and you just get a number. So I pick my number, I go to my seat and it's the 45 degree angle of Homer that I had just practiced the night before.

R. Alan Brooks (14:53):

Wow. That's cool.

Maia Ruth Lee (14:54):

So I was like, okay, I guess this is a sign <laugh>. And I passed.

R. Alan Brooks (15:00):

Ah, nice.

Maia Ruth Lee (15:01):

And, you know, that was sort of like just the beginning of what was, what became like more of like this very rigorous technical education of art in Korea, which kept kind of, you know, taking the joy out of it for me. But I went with it, you know, I was like, all right, let's do it. Yeah. I'm sure I'll learn something from it, you know.

R. Alan Brooks (15:25):

Well, now I would like to know, how did you, like what process did you recover your joy in art? How did you find it again? Or have you I don't wanna,

Maia Ruth Lee (15:36):

Well, you know, I graduated once I graduated, I actually didn't make art for about 10 years.

R. Alan Brooks (15:45):

Wow.

Maia Ruth Lee (15:46):

And I think it took about that long to recuperate <laugh>. And find what I really wanted to do. And that happened, I think, when I arrived in New York, and that's when I started making art again.

R. Alan Brooks (16:01):

Okay. So what was the trigger in New York? Like what, you know, was the catalyst for you to start making art again?

Maia Ruth Lee (16:06):

Um, well, it was my entrance into the U.S. um, into this new chapter in my life.

R. Alan Brooks (16:13):

Huh.

Maia Ruth Lee (16:14):

And I felt the need for it, which was the first time, um, I felt that, you know, if I couldn't find something that I could find peace in yeah. I would have to go back to Asia <laugh>. Oh. It was almost kind of like, um, a survival mechanism at that point. Yeah. And I resorted to was making things

R. Alan Brooks (16:43):

So the art is healing you again. Yeah. That's cool. Yeah. Okay. So now you were talking about, um, as a child, you absorbing art through culture and not even being particularly aware that it's art. Uh, when you moved to a city like New York, obviously there's a whole bunch of cultures and, uh, did the same kind of thing happen when you moved there? Were you absorbing it in that way?

Maia Ruth Lee (17:05):

I was, but for the first time I realized that art was a thing.

R. Alan Brooks (17:10):

Ah.

Maia Ruth Lee (17:11):

You know, like it was such a thing.

R. Alan Brooks (17:13):

Yeah.

Maia Ruth Lee (17:14):

Um, I was really shook actually. I was like, there's museums, there's so many galleries, there's so many artists. <laugh>, everyone's making something

R. Alan Brooks (17:25):

<laugh>.

Maia Ruth Lee (17:27):

I was, you know, really invigorated actually. Um, and as overwhelming as it was. Um, but you know, I think New York, especially in that sense, because in that process you meet a lot of like-minded people and I feel like when you're lucky, you really meet people who you connect with. Right. And I was able to, I was lucky enough to have sort of that community forming as my experience grew. Hmm. So I didn't feel completely isolated in that experience. I felt like I was part of something.

R. Alan Brooks (18:07):

Yeah.

Maia Ruth Lee (18:08):

And that felt awesome.

R. Alan Brooks (18:11):

Hmm. Okay. So you had this education in arts, um, that obviously, uh, taught you some things. And then you had the 10 year break. You come to New York, you come back into it. How did you find what your medium was gonna be or what kind of art you wanted to make?

Maia Ruth Lee (18:31):

I started just like, you know, looking for materials that were accessible to me. The very first piece I made, can I explain it to you?

R. Alan Brooks (18:42):

<laugh>? Yeah. I Believe in you.

Maia Ruth Lee (18:44):

I actually ended up showing it at the MCA Denver 10 years after. Okay. But the first piece I ever made, um, um, you know, I had this, it was, it was actually from a dream. Really? Okay. I had a dream. I walked into the studio of this person I know. And she had this zine that she made, you know,

R. Alan Brooks (19:11):

Uhhuh.

Maia Ruth Lee (19:12):

And each page was heat sensitive. So you would touch it and the colors would change. Yeah. It was like this really tripped out thing. And I was like, oh my God, that is so smart. I wish I had thought of that. Huh. And I woke up from that dream and I was like, oh my God, it was a dream <laugh>.

R. Alan Brooks (19:31):

I can do this,

Maia Ruth Lee (19:32):

I can do this. And so I started researching if anything like that existed, like Right. Heat sensitive thermal chromic materials. And ala Yes, there is, there is, you know, fabrics, papers that change color with touch. And so I thought about it for a while and I decided to make an installation, which was basically a electrical heat blanket plugged in on the wall

R. Alan Brooks (20:05):

Okay.

Maia Ruth Lee (20:05):

And laid over. It was the thermo chromic fabric, which was in different colors, say red, which you laid over the electrical heat blanket. The part that changes color is the wire that's embedded in the electrical heat blanket. And the wire looks like a wine, like a snake.

R. Alan Brooks (20:27):

Like a s Yeah. Or,

Maia Ruth Lee (20:29):

And it just goes like this, you know, curly. Yeah. And that part turns to blue, for example.

R. Alan Brooks (20:34):

Uh,

Maia Ruth Lee (20:35):

And that was it.

R. Alan Brooks (20:36):

Huh.

Maia Ruth Lee (20:37):

And I was like, I have no idea what this is <laugh>. Like, what the fuck am I supposed to do with this now?

R. Alan Brooks (20:45):

<laugh>?

Maia Ruth Lee (20:47):

But that was my first piece I made in New York. And yeah. I remember just being like, I'm just gonna try stuff out. Huh. I'm just gonna like experiment, you know, pick up materials, but whatever I could afford too, you know, I pay.

R. Alan Brooks (21:03):

Yeah. That's

Maia Ruth Lee (21:04):

The good thing. The second thing I ever made, which also ended up being shown at the mc Temple <laugh>, it was kind a big, kind of like full circle, which was a really awesome moment, um, when I was able to show them for the first time after 10 years. But second piece I ever made in New York was, um, uh, a painting made out of fabric band-aids.

R. Alan Brooks (21:29):

Huh.

Maia Ruth Lee (21:30):

And the fabric bandaids, I just came across them at, you know, Dwayne Reed or something.

R. Alan Brooks (21:35):

Yeah.

Maia Ruth Lee (21:35):

And they come in like various colors, obviously, but they also have very distinct, um, shapes and sizes, and they're specific to design for parts of your body and crevices of your body. So a bandaid for your knee. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> is more of like a wider patch.

R. Alan Brooks (21:56):

Right.

Maia Ruth Lee (21:58):

Um, whereas there's like a bandaid that looks like a cross that is to be overlapped in more of like a different part of your body. Hm. There's like long pieces of fabrics that are supposed to wrap around your finger, et cetera. Right. So I collected like boxes and boxes of different fabric, uh, fabric band-aids and just put them on, you know, into this like, I guess arrangement onto canvas and ironed it down. And they worked like, um, almost like, uh, like patches. If you iron it around, it really sticks down well. So that was my second piece, you know, so I was just kind of like messing around and playing with whatever I could find, honestly. Yeah. Um,

R. Alan Brooks (22:45):

Well, I want to ask about the band-aids with the ironing. Did you know that that would have that effect? Or was that just she was experimenting?

Maia Ruth Lee (22:52):

Experimenting <affirmative>? Actually now the adhesive has changed, but then what I actually had to do, did you know back in the day fabric, like bandaid adhesive is, was made out of fish bladder

R. Alan Brooks (23:08):

<laugh>? I've never heard that

Maia Ruth Lee (23:09):

<laugh> messed up.

R. Alan Brooks (23:11):

Yeah.

Maia Ruth Lee (23:12):

It's not vegan. Well, now it is, but I think, you know, kind of back when vegan products wasn't a thing.

R. Alan Brooks (23:21):

Right.

Maia Ruth Lee (23:22):

Huh. Um, so it isn't archival. So I had to figure out another adhesive to go between the bandaid adhesive and the, and the canvas to really stick it. Right. But yeah. By experimenting, just by messing around.

(23:22):

 

[AD] Valerie Cassel Oliver  (23:44):

This is Valerie Cassel Oliver curator of the exhibition, The Dirty South Contemporary Art, Material Culture, and the Sonic Impulse occupying three floors at MCA Denver. The Dirty South makes visible the roots of southern hip-hop culture and reveals how the aesthetic traditions of the African American South have shaped the visual art and musical expression over the last 100 years. This exhibition features an intergenerational group of artists working in a variety of genres, from sculpture to painting and drawing to photography and film, as well as sound pieces and large scale installation works. Head over to MCA denver.org/visit and use the code TDS 20, that's t d s two zero for 20% discount on general admission for this exhibition, which is on view until February 5th, 2023.

R. Alan Brooks (24:48):

I hear your exploration in, in these pieces. So I'm interested about what it meant to you. Right. Because, um, I'm talking to a lot of artists who had a lot of struggle with believing that they were an artist and, um, then have a struggle with thinking that their art should, should do something, um, and what, whatever that is, whether it's, um, share a message with the world or, uh, whatever, you know. But it seems like for you, the creation of the art is a large part of what is, uh, significant to you. Is there, is there something else?

Maia Ruth Lee (25:26):

I think that's, I mean, you know, again, it kind of stems from curiosity first. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, I almost, it's, you know, when I see or maybe come up with maybe an idea, I have to try it out,

R. Alan Brooks (25:37):

Huh.

Maia Ruth Lee (25:38):

Like, is is it gonna work? Like, is it gonna look okay? Um, and then, you know, there's like a bunch of things I've tried that have never seen the light of day because it sucks, you know, <laugh>. Um, but I think by trying out and experimenting it invokes like this playfulness.

R. Alan Brooks (25:59):

Yeah.

Maia Ruth Lee (25:59):

That is very, um, private for me, I think.

R. Alan Brooks (26:04):

Hmm.

Maia Ruth Lee (26:05):

And if that reaches outside of myself, then awesome.

R. Alan Brooks (26:11):

Yeah.

Maia Ruth Lee (26:12):

You know, that's like, I, I couldn't, I couldn't be more happy.

R. Alan Brooks (26:16):

I love that.

Maia Ruth Lee (26:17):

But if I'm able to keep that for myself, that's also very special for me.

R. Alan Brooks (26:24):

That's a really cool place to be as a creative person.

Maia Ruth Lee (26:27):

I think so. And I try to remind myself that, you know, as I get older and I kind of, you know, accumulate more experiences, I don't want to lose that, you know, approach of, of, of playing.

R. Alan Brooks (26:44):

Right. Okay. Well, so when it comes to, uh, the machine of galleries or the art business or whatever, once you're finished with a piece that has been a pure experience for you, um, do you feel any pressure to try to explain what it means? Or like how do you present these kind of things?

Maia Ruth Lee (27:06):

I think, um, a lot of the times when I make work at first, I actually don't know what it's about. You know, I don't know why I made it, I don't know how it ties to anything else. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And then what I've really kind of noticed, especially in my own career, I guess, is that it comes around two threefold later on.

R. Alan Brooks (27:30):

Huh.

Maia Ruth Lee (27:31):

Um, and I say that because, you know, I give that example of mc Denver, 10 years after that I had first created them. They, they never gotten sh got shown, you know?

R. Alan Brooks (27:42):

Right.

Maia Ruth Lee (27:44):

But it made sense in the context 10 years later when I was thinking about this idea of Language of Grief, that was the title of my show. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> and how language of Grief is an illegible language. It's so unique to every individual. Um, it is almost like a bodily language. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And when I was thinking about the body and body can, you know, body sort of ex uh, language pertaining to the body, I was thinking about when the bandaids made sense, the electrical heat blankets made sense. This kind of, these elements that kind of protect and heal you can be also used as sort of like this linguistic element to create almost like, uh, well it's, you know, it's called Acemic writing. I don't know if you, if you're familiar, familiar with it. No. Um, the whole show was based on acemic writing. Okay. And Acemic writing is interesting because it's a global style of writing that is without context. It's, um, like an open semantic form of writing that is more like a shadow or impression of, um, conventional writing. Like a good example is like Cy Twombly's painting titled Resignation Letter.

R. Alan Brooks (29:26):

Mm-hmm.

Maia Ruth Lee (29:27):

<affirmative>, it's a large scribble, but it Okay. It looks like I'm outta here

R. Alan Brooks (29:32):

<laugh>,

Maia Ruth Lee (29:33):

You know? Right. Um, and I say it's global because the creators of Acemic writing are from all over the world. It's like a, um, there's a huge community behind Acemic writing and it's international in its mission, and it ignores like obstacles of like education and background, which I really love. Yeah.

R. Alan Brooks (29:53):

Right.

Maia Ruth Lee (29:54):

And we've all, we've all participated in asy writing, for example, as a child before we learn how to write, um, our attempted name writing or scribbles that is asic writing.

Speaker 5 (30:11):

Hmm.

Maia Ruth Lee (30:12):

So I was very inspired by that. Okay. Um, and I wanted to base these works and kind of link them to acemic writing. So, so the bandaid paintings became this long, sort of this 40 foot scroll and the heat blankets became, its, um, kind of made sense all of a sudden because yeah. The, the kind of, um, the line that kind of comes through from the electrical heat blanket almost looks like a paragraph.

(30:53):

And I wanted to kind of just portray that and really link that to the idea of the eligibility of, of the language. So I don't know if I'm answering your question, but <laugh> No, I think when it comes to talking about my work, sometimes I don't really, um, show or, or talk about them immediately afterwards. Sometimes I ruminate and keep it aside for five plus years. Yeah. Until it does make sense.

R. Alan Brooks (31:25):

Okay. It's a significant thing because, um, I do think that most artists sort of carry this thing in our head of, um, we have to prove that it was worth it to make it, or that, you know, the art serves some purpose and there's this, there's this interesting relationship between art and commerce. Right. Uh, so for me, you know, I'm always try to create the thing that is most significant to me artistically and then afterwards figure out how to market it. Which, you know, they're just two separate things

Maia Ruth Lee (31:56):

For sure.

R. Alan Brooks (31:57):

And so are you creating these pieces and then just sort of storing them for, uh, five years until you find the context for them?

Maia Ruth Lee (32:05):

Yeah. Some works. Yes. Some works. Um, I'll just think about it for five plus years, you know?

R. Alan Brooks (32:13):

Yeah.

Maia Ruth Lee (32:14):

And, and sometimes they don't, you know, they don't really evolve into anything and, and some do. So I always like to think that nothing really goes to waste. Um, and I try to really kind of remember and document all of the thought processes that I have, even though, even if I think it's stupid.

R. Alan Brooks (32:41):

Hmm.

Maia Ruth Lee (32:42):

Um, but yeah, that, that relationship between art and commerce is a tricky, it's a tricky slipper slope.

R. Alan Brooks (32:50):

Yeah. I gotta say my, the, your approach to it is, uh, very, um, it's inspiring honestly, cuz I, I feel like you're forgiveness or, or gentleness with yourself, like allowing yourself to just create and not, not, uh, feel like you have to fit into some standard, or it just seems like you just let your creation be your creation. And, uh, I just think it's cool. Thank you. Giving your air high five air high five days. Yeah. <laugh> <laugh>.

Maia Ruth Lee (33:21):

Thank you. Um, I feel blessed, you know, um, because with that comes a lot of support and people that love you, um, because, you know, I'm not saying that I'm, you know, I don't have my days when I think everything is bullshit, you know?

R. Alan Brooks (33:42):

Yeah. Right.

Maia Ruth Lee (33:43):

And I wanna throw everything against the wall, but I'm, you know, I think I've been blessed enough to have a steady, sort of a steady career. It's not been fast, it's not been slow. It's just at the right pace, I think for me.

R. Alan Brooks (34:02):

Yeah.

Maia Ruth Lee (34:03):

And, you know, in my mind, I've always, even from the beginning, my mantra is I love, I'm in it for the slow burn. You know, if I'm able to do this age 80, 90 until I die, I'd be stoked. <laugh>, I'd be very stoked. You know, I'd be, I'd be a lucky person if I could do that. And so in order for me to do that, I know that I need to pace myself. I need to really just take it slow, take it easy.

R. Alan Brooks (34:40):

You hit him with the, uh, tortoise and tortoise versus the hair philosophy. Yeah.

Maia Ruth Lee (34:45):

Yeah. I'm in the rush. I'm, I'm here. <laugh>.

R. Alan Brooks (34:49):

<laugh>. But okay. So, uh, when we're talking about you being kind to yourself and not in your process, I think it's a perfect time to, to ask about what circumstances do you feel fear in your creative process? And when you do, how do you work through it?

Maia Ruth Lee (35:07):

That's a hard one. Um, I mean, I think self doubt is a big one, and I think most artists or anyone could relate to that. Right. But, um, personally I have, you know, I try to not, I try really hard not to judge myself. Um, sometimes I can be very hard on myself, and I think that comes from just specifically my upbringing too. Mm-hmm.

R. Alan Brooks (35:42):

<affirmative>.

Maia Ruth Lee (35:44):

Um, so that kind of ties into the fear where I feel like I'm not good enough. Hmm. Um, but I really try to think about that as a separate thing as much as possible. Like, it really is like an effort, you know?

R. Alan Brooks (36:03):

Yeah.

Maia Ruth Lee (36:03):

To just be like, okay, these are not my thoughts, <laugh>,

R. Alan Brooks (36:08):

Ah,

Maia Ruth Lee (36:08):

This is how I've programmed to think, and I will, I need to, you know, disconnect from this programming.

R. Alan Brooks (36:18):

Huh.

Maia Ruth Lee (36:19):

And that comes with so much, I guess, I don't know, self-discipline maybe in a way. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, um, you know, I'm really far from my family, you know, um, my parents still live in Nepal.

R. Alan Brooks (36:38):

Okay.

Maia Ruth Lee (36:39):

My brother lives in Korea. All my relatives are in Korea. I'm the first of my family to, to be here. Um, I'm halfway across the world, you know? Right. I see them once every three or four, sometimes five years. It's, but you know, as, and as much as I love them, I feel like the space that I've been able to have

R. Alan Brooks (37:13):

Mm-hmm.

Maia Ruth Lee (37:13):

<affirmative> has given me a lot of confidence. Hmm. That has been very healing for me. And I think, I mean, I don't want it to sound like, you know, I wanna be apart from them, but. You know, family dynamics are tricky. You know, I had very kind of, um, fraught relationship with my parents growing up, and a lot of sort of like, uh, I really needed to do a lot of stuff like reprogramming Yeah. In order for me to like, be here and do what I do. Um, so when I feel fear, I try and remind myself how far I've come.

R. Alan Brooks (38:00):

Oh, that's good.

Maia Ruth Lee (38:02):

Because I've come a long way, you

R. Alan Brooks (38:04):

Know?

Maia Ruth Lee (38:04):

Right. Physically, mentally, spiritually, you know, I've really come a long way and only I know that, you know. Yeah. Um, and I don't need to prove that to anybody. So that's something that I really try and ruminate on.

R. Alan Brooks (38:21):

Hmm. That, that's really cool to hear. I was thinking about some of the things you were saying about family. So, you know, for myself, I grew up in the American South, uh, which, and, uh, deeply involved in a church. My, my first job outta college was producing a television show for a televangelist

Maia Ruth Lee (38:41):

Oh, wow.

R. Alan Brooks (38:42):

<laugh>. Yeah. Nobody, nobody would ever guess that, but, uh, but it was a church that I grew up in. And, uh, so I, I know the more sort of constrictive aspects of that world, particularly when you're an artist. And I think it's a really interesting thing that when you talk about your sort of journey with your parents and their religion versus the religion of the culture that you're growing up in, how, um, they still supported you as an artist. Um, and so much so that they would send you to like a Buddhist thing to learn art and weren't like afraid or trying to like, whatever, you know, like whatever. That, it's kind of cool to hear that moment, you know?

Maia Ruth Lee (39:25):

Oh, yeah. And I was like, oh my God, this is a glitch in their system. You know, <laugh> glitch. Right. They didn't their research. Thank God for that, you know, <laugh>. Yeah. Yeah.

R. Alan Brooks (39:37):

Seriously. Right, right. It's such an interesting thing, man. Like, uh, particularly when it comes to life, spirituality, philosophy, all of that stuff. Um, how it all feeds into, I, I feel like, I guess how your journey as a human being, um, aligns with your journey as an artist. And I don't mean you specific, I mean, all of us. Mm-hmm.

Maia Ruth Lee (39:58):

<affirmative>, you know, for sure.

R. Alan Brooks (40:00):

It's, it's part of why I like having these conversations, right. Because

Maia Ruth Lee (40:03):

Yeah. Because it's not separate. It's just not separate. It can't be separated and, you know, I, I try to keep it interlinked mm-hmm. <affirmative> throughout, even when I feel like I found my art. I'm not gonna separate that from my life, you know?

R. Alan Brooks (40:24):

Right.

Maia Ruth Lee (40:25):

Yeah. It's just the whole whole thing is a package. You know,

[AD] R. Alan Brooks (40:36):

MCA Denver at the holiday theater is a hub for the arts, located in this historic 400 seat theater. We aim to realize one of a kind creative experiences for audiences that spark curiosity, challenge conventions, inspire and delight. Visit MCA denver.org to learn more about the robust schedule of museum driven and collaborative programming. The, is your choice of medium, uh, affected by where you are in life

Maia Ruth Lee (41:02):

Right now? Um, yeah. I guess, you know, I'm quite resourceful and I try to find materials that are accessible in my immediate surroundings. Uh, right now I'm working with a lot of rope <laugh>. Ah, and Rope is accessible in all hardware stores. <laugh>, right? Yeah. And, um, rope and Ink is my main medium right now. Huh.

R. Alan Brooks (41:30):

Okay.

Maia Ruth Lee (41:32):

Yeah. It's, uh, I guess, you know, it's interesting too because that actually ties in, even with my move to Salida mm-hmm. <affirmative>, um, you know, it was kind of a, it was a covid move. It was a sudden move. We were okay out west in LA when the shutdown happened in New York. Right. Uh, we had to make a quick decision as to what to do because we quickly realized that income would not. Right. Just, we had no idea what that would look like, and there was no way we could just sit on our two studios and an apartments Right. And not be there. Right. So we, uh, two weeks into the pandemic, we decided to shut it all down. So we hired movers that went into our spaces and we packed up our life over FaceTime.

R. Alan Brooks (42:30):

Wow.

Maia Ruth Lee (42:31):

Everything went into storage and it's still in storage. I have not seen everything since then. Wow. And we ended up moving to Colorado because my partner's, uh, fam uh, parents live here and he grew up here too. Okay. Um, but his mother was stuck in Florida, so the house was vacant.

R. Alan Brooks (42:50):

Huh.

Maia Ruth Lee (42:52):

So we just drove straight from LA to Colorado Springs. Wow. We were there for two months. And, you know, I just, you know, was very deeply saddened that I had to leave New York so abruptly. But I think I was just also, you know, I think everyone obviously was going through it, but I was Right. Just like, I don't think this is it. I was like, I don't think this place is for me. Hmm. And Peter said, Peter's my husband, he was like, you know what, well, let's check out this town. It's smaller. And I was like, you gotta be kidding me. <laugh> smaller, you know, population of, uh, 6,000 and, you know, he was like, well, let's spend a couple months there, more access to nature. So we came out here mm-hmm. <affirmative>, and we came here with just a couple of things, you know?

R. Alan Brooks (43:44):

Mm-hmm. <affirmative>,

Maia Ruth Lee (43:45):

My work right now that I'm working on and for many, many years actually is called Bondage Baggage. Um, it's basically luggage art, <laugh>,

(43:57):

<laugh>. Okay. And it's funny because this is one of those ideas I was telling you that I was thinking about and just sat on for about five years. Yeah. I would visit Nepal after I left Nepal to see my parents. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, and at the airport, I just started noticing the luggage coming down to conveyor belt looked so interesting, and I'd seen it my whole life, but I think I noticed it for the first time. Right. And luggage that was wrapped and bondage and tied in such a specific manner and style that I just started documenting it. So over five course of five years, every time I would visit them, I just documented all the luggage coming down until I got kicked out by security, you know, <laugh>. So I ended up having about like over a hundred images of these, this luggage. Some of them look like mozzarella, some of them look like a cardboard box that's just like Tate with like tons of tape and then there's rope flapping around it.

(45:04):

Um, and I was, I was curious about it, and the curiosity kind of was what's inside and why is it wrapped in this manner? And I soon you found out that the security at the airport, their infamous for taking some things out. Oh, luggage. So the owners of the luggage, it's almost kind of like, you know, so that they won't tamper with it. It's sealed in a very specific manner, and so tight shut that no one could get into it. So I was thinking about the idea of like self-preservation, privacy, um, labor, because a lot of these people who are coming back to Nepal are migrant workers working in the Middle East, Malaysia, Singapore, with like, new things for their families, right? Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, you know, I was thinking about labor, I was thinking about migration, I was thinking about borders, you know, a dipo experiences. I was like, this is giving me so many ideas. Like, I need to, I need to stick. I, I wanna do something like this, you know?

R. Alan Brooks (46:20):

Yeah.

Maia Ruth Lee (46:21):

And so, about five years pass and I decided to make a sculpture that actually just looked and represented sort of what it originally looked like with the same materials that they were made in. You know, the actual luggage was made with so homemade home found materials like bedsheets and car boxes, tapes, ropes. That evolved into basically these paintings. So I painted the entire sculpture in, uh, India ink, which is usually used for calligraphy.

R. Alan Brooks (47:02):

A big thing in comic books too,

Maia Ruth Lee (47:04):

Actually. Yes, yes. Yeah. Um, and I love India Inc. India Ink works beautifully with rock canvas, and you know, the whole sculpture is painted, and when it's dry, I just cut the ropes off.

R. Alan Brooks (47:19):

Hmm.

Maia Ruth Lee (47:20):

But when the rope is off and I unwrap the entire sculpture, cuz it's covered in this canvas skin unwrap the canvas skin, you're left with basically just the imprint of the folds, the, the wrapping of the ropes. Yeah. And it kind of made me think about the imprinted experience, the imprint of, um, just your life.

R. Alan Brooks (47:49):

Yeah.

Maia Ruth Lee (47:51):

And it also looked kind of like a map too.

R. Alan Brooks (47:55):

Hmm.

Maia Ruth Lee (47:56):

So it's not just about the past, but maybe it's also about the future Hmm. Moving forward, but also backwards at the same time. Um, so the reason why I brought that up is when I, so when we came to Salida, we came to our bags, you know?

R. Alan Brooks (48:12):

Right.

Maia Ruth Lee (48:13):

And I was like, oh my God. Again, like, here we go again, more stuff. And you know, now we have to settle again. You know, so the materials I end up just going with was what I felt made most sense, which is the rope and, and just canvas and ink.

R. Alan Brooks (48:33):

I love how you just, uh, pull from your environment and then, uh, use it to reflect what's going on inside of you. Okay. So, Maia, wrapping up, there are two questions I have for you. Um, the first is, what do you have going on? What do you wanna promote?

Maia Ruth Lee (48:49):

I, I, I'm working on a couple of shows. Okay. Um, but they're kind of just in the works, I guess. Yeah. Um, and they're all next year. Oh, okay. They, they've yet to be announced, so I don't think I can like specifically say what it is, but, um, for shadowing, for shadowing to be announced

R. Alan Brooks (49:14):

<laugh>. Right. On <laugh>. Well, where, uh, where can people interact with your work? Do you have a website or Instagram? Where do you

Maia Ruth Lee (49:20):

Prefer people? Oh, yeah, sure. I have a website. It's my ruthie.club and, um, Instagram is Maia Ruth b. Nice. Um, however, it is a private account, but you know, at me <laugh>.

R. Alan Brooks (49:41):

Uh, okay. But is that, is that kind of like your intention for that to be your art account and

Maia Ruth Lee (49:46):

If, yeah, it has my art, but it also has a, a huge portion of my life. Oh, right On. Which is my family life, my life here in Salida, my life in general. Um, so yeah, it's a mix. It's a big mix.

R. Alan Brooks (49:59):

Yeah. Yeah. Okay. My last question is, what is inspiring you these days? What are you watching, listening to? Um, what, what's, yeah, what's making you feeding you creatively?

Maia Ruth Lee (50:14):

You know, I just started watching reservation dogs.

R. Alan Brooks (50:17):

Ah,

Maia Ruth Lee (50:18):

Have you seen

R. Alan Brooks (50:18):

It? Yes. Yeah.

Maia Ruth Lee (50:20):

It's so good. It's so good. And it's really inspiring. Um, I'm into the season two right now and it's really kind of making me think about so many different things. And it's such a poignant and beautiful show where I was just like, this is such a soft, like, it makes me feel so soft inside, like really warm and soft inside. Thinking about ancestry, thinking about tradition, thinking about culture, thinking about family, thinking about friendship and youth, um, thinking about aspirations, you know, or Lost Dreams or also, it's such a funny show.

R. Alan Brooks (51:03):

Hmm. Yeah.

Maia Ruth Lee (51:04):

And I was just like, wow, I haven't seen a good show in a while, so I was kind of stoked.

R. Alan Brooks (51:09):

Oh, that's cool. Yeah. Hey, Maia, I appreciate you taking the time to talk to me. Oh,

Maia Ruth Lee (51:14):

Well thanks for having me. That was fun. Sorry if I just blabbed on and on.

R. Alan Brooks (51:21):

Hey, you know, that's, that's, it's just kind of the cool thing to be able to talk about your process and journey and stuff like that. Special thank you to today's guest, Maia. Thanks. For our listeners, please be sure to subscribe to How Hard is Born whenever you get your podcast. More episodes. If you can leave a review, it really helps us out. Check out MTA Denver on YouTube and subscribe their behind the scenes clips from today's episode. Don't forget to visit mta, Denver's current exhibition, the Dirty South on now.