Fiona Lee
Visual Artist and Climate Justice Activist
Country: Australia
Cohort: CCL Australia 2023
"Creative climate leadership harnesses innovative art forms to draw attention to climate change while taking a proactive stance against the influence of fossil fuels in both artistic and environmental realms."
About
Fiona Lee (b. 1981, Vancouver) is a visual artist and a climate activist who blurs the lines between protest and installation.
After losing her home in the 2019-20 Australian bushfire crisis, Lee undertook a 12-month Bushfire Affected Artist residency, resulting in a successful touring solo exhibition Carbon Tax which also featured on ABC Artworks TV.
With over two decades of involvement in grassroots organisations, her most significant achievement came in 2021 when she was a part of a landmark court victory with Bushfire Survivors for Climate Action which compelled the NSW Environment Protection Authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions and climate change, establishing a groundbreaking precedent in Australia.
Project Highlights
High Tide
A collaborative public artwork, High Tide, designed with architectural designer Aaron Crowe, will be installed at Yapang Sculpture Park, Museum of Art and Culture Lake Macquarie in 2024.
The four metre high stranded mooring buoy is anchored to its shoreline position where the lake’s water level is predicted to rise. The sculpture marks a new kind of danger; a future shift in the way people understand and interact with the lake.
Carbon Tax
Following the loss of my home in the 2019-20 Australian bushfire crisis, I crafted unapologetic and political artworks that addressed my personal loss and the impact of climate change on us all. The result was my successful solo show Carbon Tax which you can see on ABC Art work TV.
Zero
The artwork Zero was made during a time when the conservative Australian government reluctantly announced a net-zero emissions by 2050 target which was heavily reliant on unspecified advancements in technologies rather than emissions reductions. In response to this political reluctance, the artwork projects coal trains onto flashing fluorescent lights, expressing the artist’s disorientation and frustration. It serves as a poignant critique of the government’s delay and denial of climate change, highlighting the pressing need for concrete action.
Project Gallery
