L7: What inspired you to become an artist? 

Audrey: I have always done art. I was always one of the school-artists when I was growing up, but I have always loved English too. I attended PrattMWP for my first year of college, intending to major in Graphic Design. However, thanks to the foundational courses we began with, I learned that fine arts is my true calling. Missing Bellingham, I returned home to finish the rest of my college education at Western. I thought I would do a double major in art and English here, but art completely took over my life, as I worked and grew close with phenomenal teachers and students.

L7: Did you receive any formal training, are you self-taught or a combination of both? 

Audrey: Well I just graduated from Western Washington University with a BFA in Art, so no, not entirely self-taught. I had a great painting instructor at Western, Cynthia Camlin, and also a really good advisor, Cara Jaye. They saw what I was interested in and guided me, mentioning artists I might look at, such as Ross Bleckner and others who work with light and chiaroscuro a lot. 

L7: Who/what have been your biggest artistic influences? 

Audrey: Really, I just love all of Art History. I love Art History Lectures I love the Renaissance, Baroque, the Roccoco. I love Shakespeare, particularly Sonnet 18 (Shall I compare Thee to a Summer’s Day?) I also love the Hudson River School, and the artistic trope of Momento Mori. 

L7: How would you describe your artistic style?

Audrey: Well, I guess it is narrative and figurative. One of my professors at my thesis presentation described it as “Narrative Landscape”. I love working in monochrome, but that isn’t exactly a “style”. 

L7: What mediums do you primarily work with?

Audrey: Primarily I work in oils. I used to work in acrylic, but my teacher told me I was really an oil painter. Now I love oils. I build my own panels; I typically use pine (student-budget friendly). For my oil paintings, I begin every painting (after gesso) with a luminous underpainting of oil paint mixed with Galkyd, and then I paint with oil (no medium) on top. My acrylic paintings just use an acrylic underpainting. I also love charcoal!

L7: Do you plan your compositions in advance or work intuitively? 

Audrey: Audrey: Yes, I very much plan in advance. I use photographs as references and plan out what my composition and figures are going to be, focusing on props, costumes, and lighting. I don’t usually change anything after I take my reference photo.

L7: Are there recurring themes or subjects or images in your work? 

Audrey:  Life and death. I love sitting in the moment, the sense of circular timelessness and the continuity and connection with our ancestors. I think the pleasure in living is knowing that we will die. I love creating pastorals.

L7:  What emotions or ideas do you hope to convey through your paintings? 

Audrey: In my work I try to show the sense of the liminal and the consistent interplay between life and death, the sense of there being a consistent knowledge of death, and that is part of the joy of life, part of the joy of being human. For me, the knowledge that we will die, that we are here now but will not always be, that can bring joy. I try to convey that doorway between life and death. I like the concept of freezing time…I try to capture that.

L7:  Where have you exhibited your work?

Audrey: At Western Gallery (on the campus of WWU) for my thesis exhibition, at L7 Gallery and at the O’Hanlon Center for the Arts in California.

L7: Any awards or recognitions we should include in our interview?

Audrey: I won “Outstanding Graduate in Studio Art” award from Western Washington University; I got a “Bachelor of Fine Arts Special Recognition Award” from Western also, and a “First Place Painting Award” from L7 Gallery. 

L7:  What are you currently working on? 

Audrey: I have a beautiful photograph my brother took of nearby mountains and a valley. Using that as a reference I want to create a kind of Danse Macabre in the landscape, with Death and I pirouetting across the panel! Another painting will focus on a gambit, as Death and I engage in a game of chess.

L7: Do you have any favorite artists?

Audrey: Living artists… I mentioned Bleckner, but I also like Glenn Brown a lot. Influences? Some of my favorite artists are Watteau, Fragonard, Boucher, Caravaggio and Goya. 

L7: Where can we find you?

Audrey: I have an art Instagram!! It is @audreylee_art!!!