Nikki S Lee

In the ’90s and early 2000s Nikki S. Lee embarked on numerous photographic and performance art “Projects” (1997–2001). She became an expert mimic of primarily Western subcultures, transforming herself into a yuppie, a lesbian and an exotic dancer amongst others. When she makes the transition, Lee fully immerses herself into a new social and physical environment for several weeks, the works that remain are snapshot photographs which leave a trail of evidence, blurring the boundary between fact and fiction.

These seemingly amateur casual snapshots, taken by friends or passers-by, reinforce Lee’s attempt at ‘passing’ with her collaborators. Like Cindy Sherman who came before and Laurel Nakadate who followed, Lee’s works bring performance and photography practices together to create unsettling Whatever your take on her moral standpoint, the Projects remain troubling and intriguing, pulling on privilege and neutrality as standard ‘art world’ tropes. Lee had left New York in the late 2000s for her native Seoul, where she lives today, working on a forthcoming feature-length film called “Two Monks” chronicling a gay love affair between American and Korean monks, continuing her line of questioning around gender, sexuality, race and community.