Rosa Lee was born in Hong Kong in 1957, relocating to England during her early childhood along with her parents. She studied at Brighton Polytechnic (1982–3), St Martin’s School of Art (1983–6), and the Royal College of Art (1986–8), emerging as a prominent figure in the UK art scene in the 1998s and 1990s. Integrating feminine crafts, such as lacemaking, into her abstract work, she challenged gender norms and hierarchies in art. Celebrated for her visually intricate canvases, Lee significantly influenced feminist discourse in contemporary art.
Artist and feminist theorist Rosa Lee was born on 1 February 1957 in Pok Fu Lam, Hong Kong, British Empire (now China), relocating to England during her early childhood along with her parents. She completed her education in intellectual history and German at the University of Sussex in 1979, then furthered her artistic training at Brighton Polytechnic (1982–3), St Martin’s School of Art (1983–6), and the Royal College of Art (1986–8). Shortly after graduating, Lee won the prestigious John Moores painting prize. As a visiting fellow at Winchester School of Art in 1988–9, she held her first solo exhibition, earning praise from Guardian art critic Tim Hilton for her ‘sinuous, intelligent canvases’ (Hilton 1989, p. 44). In 1989, she was named Artist of the Day at Flowers East and her work Matrix (Victoria Gallery & Museum collection) was featured in the John Moores Liverpool Exhibition (1989–90). Lee's solo exhibitions continued at Todd Gallery in London in 1990 and 1992, with Hilton praising her work as ‘sensitive, ornate and unabashed’ (Hilton 1992, p. 30).
During the 1980s and 1990s, Lee emerged as a prominent figure in the UK art scene. She created a unique form of abstraction, skillfully incorporating traditionally feminine decorative techniques, such as lace-making. This approach challenged the established hierarchy that placed fine art above craft and provoked a re-evaluation of modernist norms. Lee's work, known for its decorative richness and large scale, featured densely layered paint in undulating patterns, often creating visual illusions. Her artistic influences were diverse, drawing from both Western and Asian traditions. She was profoundly inspired by the optical art of Bridget Riley and the philosophical writings of Jacques Derrida, while also integrating elements of calligraphic abstraction, a cornerstone of her artistic practice.
Lee's artistic endeavors in the UK can be viewed as an extension of the American Pattern & Decoration movement, which ‘sought to reaffirm forms of art associated with femininity - like patterning, beading, collage - demeaned by the Westernised, male-dominated society’ (Richard Saltoun). In the exhibition catalogue Conceits, Vanités, Canadian artist Lorraine Simms discussed Lee's approach to challenging gender norms. Simms highlighted how Lee juxtaposed traditionally feminine crafts of lacemaking and embroidery, often dismissed as 'women's work', with the 'heroic' nature of painting and decorative arts (Simms 1994). Contrasting with the provocative works of the Young British Artists (YBA) emerging during the same period, Lee's paintings delved into the exploration of the unseen. She aspired to develop a new visual language, which was likened to an arabesque dance, weaving and expanding with 'threads to mend and extend' (as cited in Saltoun).
Lee's exploration of 'detail' in her paintings manifested as a profusion of intricate elements, with each canvas rich in details and tangible minutiae. Margaret Walters described her surfaces as ‘patiently and minutely elaborated with wax-thickened oil, until the tiny repetitions (she calls them ‘celllike accretions’) form a pattern, a tissue, of their own’; Walters also noted that Lee’s surfaces looked as though they had been ‘slowly and patiently fabricated – woven, knotted, knitted, netted, embroidered’ (Walters 1992, p. 71). Repetitive brush marks evoked a sense of stitching, creating a complex visual tapestry. Lee's process resulted in decorated canvases that challenged the viewer's focus and perception. The abundance of detail created a sense of continuous space and motion and required a haptic, rather than purely optical, engagement from the viewer (Simms 1994). This approach to detail and the layering of elements in her paintings reflected an exploration of structure and pattern, with an underlying sense of ordered chaos. According to Simms, Lee’s ‘paintings pulse with energy. They do not passively wait for my gaze to consume them, but rather, they consume my gaze’ (cited in Taylor 2013, p. 147). Lee challenged traditional dichotomies such as rational versus sensual, natural versus artificial, and abstract versus representational. She blended opposites, creating a non-hierarchical, heterogeneous space within her paintings. This approach reflected an exploration of intermateriality and the potential of painting to express paradoxes and blurred boundaries.
Lee made significant contributions to feminist theories, authoring numerous essays and a pivotal text, Resisting Amnesia: Feminism, Painting and Postmodernism, published in the Feminist Review in 1987, exploring the interplay between feminism, painting, and postmodernism in contemporary art. Lee was appointed Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts(FRSA) in 2001. Rosa Lee died in London, England on 15 June 2009. A posthumous exhibition was held at Eagle House, London in 2012. More recently, Haptic Vision: Rosa Lee and Jo Bruton was presented at Richard Saltoun Gallery, London in 2022. In the UK public domain, Lee’s work is represented in the Women's Art Collection, University of Cambridge; Victoria Gallery and Museum, University of Liverpool; and Maclaurin Art Gallery, Scotland, among others.