Like many others, Taos, New Mexico-based painter Jivan Lee is captivated by the mysticism of the Southwest. “I love the area in which I live,” he says, “and there is a 15-year history for me in heading out into the landscape here to paint. Taos is special because it’s an interface between semi-arid steppe and high alpine—between vast Western spaces and intimate forests. It’s a place where I can go 20 minutes in any direction and end up in a completely novel microclimate. So there is a wonderful variety available here.”
Weather From the Overlook, oil on panel, 36 x 36"
More than anything, however, Lee is inspired by humanity’s unique relationship with the land. “For me, the magic is in what arises anywhere that we feel called to be, or from any moment we feel called to engage. And from that point a painting process I believe in begins. I happen to have been called by some inner guidance system to Taos—as I’ve spoken about before, primarily by way of a series of dreams—and so I live and paint here. But I would be out painting wherever if I didn’t live here,” says Lee.
Formations in the Sky, oil on panel, 60 x 40"
This February, Lee will be presenting new works during a solo show titled Afterglow at Altamira Fine Art in Scottsdale, Arizona. “The title is a notion that arose while I was speaking about the process while being filmed this fall on location south of Taos. I found myself musing about how painting these days for me feels like it’s about working in the afterglow,” he explains. “This was partly literal since we were nearing the end of the day and I was working in the dusk light, in the evening’s afterglow. But the bigger sense was metaphorical, to be existing in the liminal space between what we see clearly and what we don’t. To be seeking out in the painting process sensations, color stories, gestures and emotions, of something we feel and can sometimes make out, but can never fully behold.”
Rift Valley-Dusk, oil on panel, 48 x 48"
This latest body of work extends into new territory for the artist: paint passages are bigger and bolder, shapes are more wild and untethered, and there is a definitive move toward energy, dynamism and power over neatness. With thick, impasto applications of paint, Lee’s artwork nearly jumps off the panel.
Collectors can explore Lee’s new Southwestern scenes from February 11 to 22. An opening reception takes place Thursday, February 13, from 7 to 9 p.m. —
Sage, Picuris Peak, Sky, oil on panel, 72 x 48"
Altamira Fine Art 7038 E. Main Street • Scottsdale, AZ 85251 (480) 949-1256 • www.altamiraart.com
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