From the Tatarstan Series. A self-portrait from the Republic of Tatarstan. A fantasy landscape of flowers springs from a pooling rainwater. What I wished my reality to be.

  
The umbrella carries many meanings throughout Asia. There are martial arts forms that use the umbrella for defense. The parasol is one of the eight sacred symbols of the Ashtamangala. In this painting, the umbrella evokes all the protections and wards off evil.

  
2014 marked my first trip to Vitaliy's mother in Tatarstan. The Maiden Revolution had just disrupted Yanukovych 's government in the Ukraine. Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula after invading it. I was frequently mistaken for a Ukrainian refugee at this time. Vitaliy forbade me to speak English in public.

  
2014 was also the year of the Umbrella Movement in Hong Kong. How far will passive resistance take us? In this self-portrait, I carry my yellow umbrella, my safe house. My imagination creates the flowers that bloom, as walk through a colorful landscape of my own creation. The existing reality was grey.

With my Yellow Umbrella

Created while reflecting on the upcoming Year of the Water Rabbit (2023), this piece was both celebrating and honoring the sexagenary cycle of the Chinese Zodiac. Featuring a white rabbit falling or diving into a body of water. 2023 was a Black Rabbit year, meaning a yin year. Discarding the obvious references, color in this artwork is playful, naive, untethered and mysterious.

  
A yellow sphere in the background can represent both a sun or a moon, alluding to both yin and yang. The rabbit is often associated with the moon in Asia. A Jade Rabbit resides on the moon with Chang'E, the Chinese Moon Goddess. The rabbit's green ears pay homage to this beast, without explicitly depicting the Moon Rabbit who pounds out the elixir of life. The rabbit's usual grace is also discarded. Collapsing into the unknown is the tenor of the time.

Rabbit Year

Abstract figure holding a crescent moon-shaped umbrella. The umbrella's shaft alludes to a candy cane, or barber shop pole. The shapes behind her are elusive. Is it a black bull, or the umbrella's handle? Illegible words are pushed back into the underpainting. The figure stands firm in a protected sphere under a chaotic red sky. 

  

Warrior Princess

In this painting, a bathing beauty in carnival attire dons a phoenix headdress. She gazes out at the sea in the distance. The fantasy landscape before her could be scenes from the book in her hands. The intent is to evoke the feeling of relaxation, as one enjoys leisurely reading a novel in the sand. Phoenix like creatures orbit through this image, carrying a life form that hatches from an egg.

  
The Phoenix traditionally refers to the Chinese Empress. The beach imagery, carnival spirit, and phantasmagoric organisms floating through space are reflections both of my past heritage and my current environment. 

  
The Phoenix series is my homage to my Po Po. My grandmother was one of three sisters: Jade Phoenix, Golden Phoenix and Lucky Phoenix. She was the Lucky Phoenix and indeed, her luck will probably endure for seven generations. She escaped the Japanese during WWII. She managed to make it to New York with her entire family. She lived to 101\. She left a legacy in her family that she will be long remembered. 9 of her 10 great-grandchildren met and remember her. 

  
The cycle of life emerges from this painting.
  
  

Phoenix on the Beach

Abstract waterscape.

This monoprint alludes to a pond, foliage and reflections floating on its surface. Twin carp swim in the center. One suspiciously resembles a bird of paradise.

This piece reminded me of my godson's backyard pond in Brooklyn, that he built with his father. I was amazed the carp survived the cold winter environment. Perhaps because they had each other?

Adam's Koi Pond

Abstract still life, flowers

My mother was suffered for years with a terminal illness. During this time of her decline, and after her passing, I must have painted thousands of flowers. It was my therapy and my thin thread of sanity out of a tunnel of grief. I am so grateful for the comfort of flowers.

The Comfort of Flowers

Fauvist and simplistic abstract landscape.

  
This painting depicts Rue du Haut in Orquevaux, France, a walk to the village peak that I did every day during my February Residency in 2022\. The world was opening after two long years of pandemic living. Russia attacked Ukraine. 

  
It is impossible to close my eyes to the horrors. When I feel helpless, I walk, and paint clouds. Up up up.

Above Orquevaux

Shine is a mixed media combination of pen and ink drawings with colored paper, cut paper, ink washes. The fox in its den, the acorn above. Does the fox dream of acorns, or is the acorn a seed heralding the coming of a new year? Winter birch trees in the background with a snowy landscape echo the stark, crisp cold. 

Shine

Jade Teapot with Cherry Blossom still life. The teapot rests on a reflective surface, a vase with cherry blossoms in the background. 

  
I enjoy drinking tea and painting teas. Tea culture in China runs deep. My grandfather was a tea importer for a time, after they returned to the U.S. during WWII. When I met Vitaliy, I discovered how rich the Russian tea culture was as well. 

  
Tea, in its essence, denotes a restful time, peace, harmony, zen and space for self-reflection.

  
"Where there's tea, there's hope.” \~Sir Arthur Wing Pinero 

  
"With the cup of green tea, I stop the war." \~Thich Nhat Hanh

(This quote also attributed to Paul Reps, Robert Brumet )
  
  

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Elizabeth Lee