Image Credit: Anna Katsanevas
Gulumerridjin (Larrakia), Wardaman, and KarraJarri woman with Japanese, Chinese, Filipino, and Anglo-Australian (Irish and Scottish) ancestry.
Jenna Lee's practice centres on exploring language, materiality, and the transformation of inherited narratives. Deeply intrigued by what is lost in translation, Lee explores the spaces between words—the felt but unseen—capturing the subtleties that surround language. Her work channels these overlooked nuances into immersive installations, works on paper, sculpture, and multimedia.
Working primarily with books, viewed as colonial artefacts, Lee interrogates dictionaries that have poorly combined First Peoples languages alongside Larrakia linguistics, using them to describe better the world she sees around her. Through meticulous deconstruction and reconstruction, she engages with materials that echo the past, revealing the hidden stories they carry. Her work seeks to uncover the unseen forces shaping our understanding of history and identity, drawing attention to what time has eroded and collective memory has suppressed.
Lee’s practice has been recognised through numerous awards, including the 2024 Waterhouse Natural Science Art Prize, the 2023 Hazelhurst Art on Paper Award (Emerging Artist), the 2023 Australian Book Design Association Award for Emerging Designer, the 2020 Wandjuk Marika 3D Memorial Award (NATSIAA), and the 2019 Dreaming Award (National Indigenous Art Award, Australia Council). She has also been a finalist in major prizes such as the 2024 Wynne Prize, the 68th Blake Art Prize, and the National Works on Paper Prize.
Lee’s work has been showcased in national and international institutions, including the National Gallery of Victoria, TarraWarra Museum of Art, and the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford. She is represented by MARS Gallery in Naarm (Melbourne, Australia).
Image Credit: Jade Florence Photography
CV
Represented by MARS Gallery
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS:
guyu-gwa ganagawai (fire grips me/fire warms me), MARS Gallery, 2024
Antecedent, Metro Arts, 2024
To Carry Light, Rockhampton Museum of Art, 2023
IMAxNowness Asia, Now You’re Speakin’ My Language, Video Commission, 2023
Ua usiusi faʻavaʻasavili, TarraWarra Biennial 2023
Melbourne Now, NGV Ian Potter Center, 2023
Out of the everywhere, Plimsoll Gallery, 2023
Linger, Dash, Talk, Cement Fondu, Sydney World Pride, 2023
Open Studio Exhibition, To make light, KYOTO ART CENTER, 2022
Text In/As, ANZ Level 10 Private Gallery, 2022
Personal Mythologies, Latrobe University Art Gallery, 2022
Hyphenated Biennial, The Substation, 2022
HERE: Between you and the world, POP Galleries, 2022
Growing Place installation, Making Place: 100 views of Brisbane, Museum of Brisbane, 2022
Internally disPLACEd: borders and belonging, Nexus Arts, 2022
UNIFORM, Wyndham Art Gallery, 2022
Cont.ained, Artspace Mackay, 2021/22
Blak Jewellery - Finding Past, Linking Present, Koorie Heritage Trust, 2021
PIVOT II, Onespace Gallery, 2021
Moving Objects, Rising Festival, 2021
Body Language, Craft Victroia Makers Vitrine, 2021
A New Translation, MARS Gallery, 2021
Botanica, Brisbane Botanic Gardens, 2021
Linguistic Prosperity Vol.2, Milani Gallery, 2021
I am Here, Art House Gallery, 2021
Here I am, Ambush Gallery, 2021
Linguistic Prosperity, Firstdraft, 2021
HOME:MADE 20, Canberra Contemporary Art Space, 2020
Inside, Craft Victoria, 2020
Making Art Work, Institute of Modern Art, 2020
Older Than Language, Salamanca Arts, 2020
Rite of Passage, QUT Art Museum, 2020
Moon in my Mouth, Schoolhouse Studios, 2019
Intimate Immensity, Outer Space, 2019
Shared Connections, Brisbane City Council Public Art Program, 2019
SELECTED AWARDS:
FINALIST The Wynne, Art Gallery NSW, 2024
WINNER Waterhouse Natural Science Art Prize, South Australia Museum, 2024
FINALIST The 68th Blake Art Prize, Casula Powerhouse, 2024
FINALIST National Works on Paper Prize, Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery, 2024
WINNER Young/Emerging, Hazlehurst Art Center Works on Paper Prize, 2023
WINNER Australian Book Design Association Awards, Deb Brash Emerging Designer, 2023
FINALIST Deakin University Art Gallery, Small Sculpture Prize, 2023
FINALIST Hazlehurst Art Center, Works on Paper Prize, 2022
FINALIST Victorian Craft Awards, Craft Victoria, 2022
FINALIST Footscray Art Prize, Footscray Community Arts Centre, 2021
WINNER Wandjuk Marika 3D Memorial Award, NATSIAA, MAGNT, 2020
FINALIST National Works on Paper Prize, Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery, 2021
FINALIST 15 Artists Prize, Redcliffe Art Gallery, 2020
FINALIST KWM Contemporary First Nations Art Award, King & Wood Mallesons, 2020
HIGHLY COMMENDED Ravenswood Australian Women’s Art Prize, 2020
FINALIST Libris Award, Contemporary Australian Artist Books, Artspace Mackay, 2020
WINNER Dreaming Award, National Indigenous Art Award, Australia Council, 2019
FINALIST Copyright Agency, John Fries Award for an emerging artist, UNSW Galleries, 2019
FINALIST NATSIAA, Museum and Art Gallery Northern Territory, 2018
WINNER Libris Award, Contemporary Australian Artist Books, Artspace Mackay, 2018
FINALIST Blacktown Art Prize, Blacktown Arts Centre, 2018
AWARD Griffith Award for Academic Excellence, Bachelor of Fine Art
SELECTED PUBLIC ART AND COMMISSIONS:
Balarr Inyiny, Drone Light Show, Darwin Festival presented by Fremantle Biennial
Light of An Invasive Native, Moving Objects, Rising Festival, 2021
IMA Bell Tower public projection, Archive of an Invasive Native
Invasive Native, Share Connections, Brisbane City Council
QANTAS International Business Lounge, Pulse of Our Ancient Land
QANTAS Domestic Business Lounge, Rhythm of Our Stories
RESIDENCIES:
First Nations Ainu Cultural Exchange, Nibutani, Hokaido, Japan, 2024
Desa Residency, Ubub Bali, Indonesia, 2024
Kyoto Art Center Residency, Australia Council for the Arts.2022
Maker in Residence, Craft Contemporary, Craft Vic
CURATORIAL:
Alt/Text, Incinerator Gallery, 2023
Elemental, Main Gallery, Craft Victoria, 2021
EDUCATION:
Graduate Certificate Museum Studies. University of Queensland, 2017
Bachelor Fine Art. Queensland College of Art (incomplete), 2016
Bachelor of Visual Communication Design. Queensland College of Art, 2011-13
Certificate III Visual Art and Contemporary Craft. TAFE, 2008-9
BOARDS:
Craft Victoria, Board Director – Craft Industry Professional
Bus Projects ARI, Co-Chair Board and Artist Selection Committee
PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS:
Craft Victoria
NAVA
Arts Hub