The artist has had a banner year in 2022. This


past August, a belt he created won first place in the “buckle” category at the Santa Fe Indian Market. Then the National Museum of the American Indian selected him to be among the artists at its annual Native Art Market in December. This event show- cases works by dozens of Indigenous artists from across the Western Hemisphere.


Learning by Watching Lee is from the Maskwacîs Reserve in Alberta, Canada, a community of four First Nations, includ- ing the Louis Bull Tribe as well as the Ermineskin, Montana and Samson Cree Nations. The Cree are the largest group of First Nations in Canada, with more than 350,000 people across eight geograph- ical and linguistically distinguished regions. The Plains Cree have homelands in Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Montana. Lee credits his family and culture with inspir-


ing him. “I was influenced at a really early age by a lot of the artists in my family—my mother, my grandmother—and then just growing up around the culture and seeing the vibrant floral and geo- metric designs.” Lee said he was “awestruck” by his mother’s beautiful beadwork. She would cre- ate decorative pieces for regalia, such as belts, belt buckles, barrettes and other hair ornaments. He was even given modeling clay with which to exper- iment. But in the beginning, he didn’t see this as his career. “As a young person, I used art as a form of entertainment and play.” As an adult he discovered the structure of an


office job wasn’t for him. “I’ve done that whole thing of wearing a suit and tie,” he said. He found art in different forms allowed him to discover himself and follow his own path. “This is where I’m most com- fortable and most fulfilled.” Lee first adopted the Cree floral and geographic


designs and artisan forms his family and ancestors embraced, not only creating beaded belt buckles and bracelets but also tanning hides, fashioning tools and carving sculptures from animal antlers, wood and stone. “When carving was my main focus, I would carve things that I saw, animals, birds, etc … I would try and have the subject rendered as realis- tically as possible and with as much movement and emotion as the medium allowed. I would also recre- ate historical items like tools and utility items with as much authenticity as possible regarding tradi- tional materials and techniques,” Lee recalled. “It takes a lot of research and attention to detail. Some things I was lucky enough to have inherited—the skill and knowledge to process and use traditional materials and the genetic Indigenous curiosity and inspiration to want to.” Although he enjoyed working in these materials and traditional forms, Lee says he knew his growth


as an artist would have to evolve to reflect his per- sonal style. After moving to British Columbia in 2007, Lee sought to connect with Native artists in the area. There, Lee met Jackson Robertson, a master wood and metal carver from the Kwakwa̱ ka̱ ʼwakw community of the Kingcome Inlet on Canada’s west coast. When Lee first started observing Robertson, “He said, ‘I can’t teach you. You can just sit there and watch me. Then you try,’” he recalled. “Jackson’s art is very freeform. He has deep roots in his nation’s design traditions, but he also creates work that is abstract, intricate and playful, often incorporating many intertwined characters and figures in one unified composition. The guy has an imagination like you wouldn’t believe.”


“I wasn’t expecting to find something that looked so beautiful and handcrafted.


. . . it’s meant to be.” — Woodland Cree actress Alyssa Wapanatâhk


Woodland Cree actress Alyssa Wapanatâhk— who will be portraying Tiger Lily in the upcoming Disney movie “Peter Pan and Wendy”—recently wore Lee’s lavic jasper and “Kiyam” rings as well as one of his bracelets to an event to promote the movie.


SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION WINTER 2022 37


EMILY SHUR


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