Lee McLean

Dates: May 8th - June 26th

This exhibit – in fact, my art practice – germinated in a hospital waiting room. As I watched the minutes tick by, it struck me how much of my life was being spent on managing my health, of all the associated wasted moments, and of how control is chipped away as we age. I felt compelled to share these feelings using my skills working with fabric and thread. The title alludes to the Dylan Thomas’ poem Do not go gentle into that good night, which deeply affected me as a teenager coping with the loss of my grandmother; it resonates still as I age. 

Quilts are associated with warmth, care, and tradition. This meaning may contrast strongly with my subject, which appeals to me. My inspiration often comes from a poem, quotation or image that resonates, leading to research and sketches. Pulling together colours and fabrics that speak to me, I work toward a specific design. But I also may work intuitively, letting the materials guide what I should sew. 

My textile art is three layers – a constructed fabric top, batting and cloth backing – held together by thread. Quilting stitches are a design layer, drawn with my sewing machine needle. Choosing from commercial prints, hand-dyes, and recycled materials, creation is a thoughtful, iterative process. I validate progress by assembling components temporarily on a design wall. Using my tablet, I test options by drawing on a photo of the work-in-progress. Complex compositions can take weeks.

While the message of these pieces on ageing may seem sad – and it can be, because much of this stage of life involves loss – the act of creating this series and the follow-on work is the embodiment of “raging against the dying of the light” that Dylan Thomas implored in his poem. Creating art, expressing ideas and feelings through the work, is joyfully life-affirming.

Lee McLean is an award-winning Canadian textile artist whose contemporary works have been juried into international exhibitions. Drawing upon a technical foundation developed over two decades as a quilter, Lee’s practice has evolved into creating predominantly abstract compositions that explore the translation of ideas and emotions into cloth and stitch. She skillfully blends dyeing, surface printing, and gestural mark-making with digital design processes, layering tactile and digital elements to produce textured fiber art.

Aiming to deepen her understanding of design, Lee returned to school full-time at the New Brunswick College of Craft & Design—a decision she enthusiastically recommends to anyone considering it. Since then, her work has been showcased extensively in the region and has also travelled as part of national and international fiber arts exhibitions. In 2023, she won first place in the Abstract and Improvisational Art category at Quilt Canada and was short-listed for a public art call. A juried member of Craft NB, Lee’s practice has been supported by grants from Canada Council for the Arts and the New Brunswick Arts Board. In a previous life, she worked in software development, a background that continues to influence her organized approach to her studio practice.

Born and raised in Saint John, she has wonderful memories of this building’s original purpose, of spending hours as a child engrossed in the library books she borrowed, and of working her first part-time job as a page who returned books to shelves. Exhibiting here is a special experience. 

Lee has deep settler roots in the province and currently works out of her studio in New Maryland, NB, situated on the traditional unceded territory of the Wolastoqey and Mi’gmaq peoples. To follow her creative journey and view her work, McLean can be found on Instagram @mclean.lee or online at www.leemclean.ca.