Nikki Lee

Lecture: Monday, June 13

Nikki will show slides and discuss her Projects series (1997 - 2001) – 14 series of snapshot style photographs in which she takes on the appearance of different ethnic groups and sub cultures and her more recent Parts series (2002 - 2005), in which she stages scenes that depict different relationships. Nikki appears in various situations with a man who is then almost completely cropped out of the picture, leaving the viewer to contemplate whether Nikki is performing in a role, or being herself, and what is happening in the rest of the picture.

Nikki Lee's work investigates how fluid and situational identity can be. Born in Korea she has an immigrant's keen eye for the daily rituals of social identification. Lee researches specific communities: what they wear, where they go, the peculiarities of posture, gesture and facial set particular to a social group. She then transforms and documents herself with her "new" community. There is no deception - Lee introduces herself and explains her project beforehand. Her projects to date have included The Hispanic Project, The Lesbian Project, The Yuppie Project, The Swingers Project and The Punk Project. Lee’s work is in numerous public collections including the Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum, the Bronx Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City.