About Ali

I’m Ali Lee, a mixed-media artist based on the edge of the Surrey Hills in Farnham, UK. 

I love artistic detail. The intricacies and complexities have always fascinated me, and one of my earliest memories is of being absorbed in rearranging coloured sticky triangles at nursery school. I moved on to my Spirograph – my favourite childhood pastime - creating pattern after pattern with those biros. I still have a desire to create an entire wall of Spirograph!

Early on in my career, I trained as a Cartographer, producing maps and geological drawings in London, before qualifying in Graphic Design and Photography. From there I was creating digital images, promotional material and magazine layouts.

I always enjoyed digital design, but I had a growing feeling that I needed to create tangible, physical art. So, I returned to University (UCA Farnham) to study Fine Art. This allowed me to explore and develop my practice whilst contributing to group exhibitions.

I draw my inspiration from David Hockney, Peter Blake, Fred Tomaselli and Olivia Kemp. However, my work reflects cartography and graphics - geological symbols and flowing contours feature strongly, as do bold compositions and stylised geometry - reflecting my poster design background.

Much of my work features intricate collages, contained within striking forms. These pieces contain up to 200 individually sourced, hand-cut and applied paper items. I love the process of creating these pieces; drawing people into the artwork to absorb the detail, with their eyes discovering more and more intricacies, that were not initially apparent. I love that people enjoy seeing beyond the obvious and return to observe time after time.

So one day I may create my wall of Spirograph, but in the meantime I continue to dream of coloured shapes and wake up each day with new possibilities in my mind.

Please get in touch if you are interested in any of my available artwork or would like to talk through a new commission. 

All my artworks are original, unique and one-of-a-kind pieces.