When I saw Tim Lee’s work of intricate black-and-white illustrations, I felt I had to track him down. He’s a young, emerging artist in London, who works with bodily imagery that involves longing, mourning and violence. It´s fascinating that everything that interests him in his process is slow, like crafting his exposed bodies and their beguiling emotional heft.

¨¨Q: What or who inspired you to work with figurative illustration art?
A: It has never been a choice to select a category or subject I wanted to work in, I feel that at this moment in time the human form conveys what I wish to better than, say, landscapes, abstraction or sculptures. I think a familiar form such as the figure allows the viewer to recognize and empathize with whatever the situation may be.

Gallery: More images from Tim Lee

Q: Have you been interested in particular media pertaining to suggestive bodies?
A: Naturally any media, be it film, photography, graphics, etc. I’m a lover of visuals, more so with human emotion and reaction rather than the body itself. The human form isn’t as interesting to me as what is going on inside. I am not so concerned with the aesthetic of the body. It is what the action expresses.

Q: What do you think of your work being associated with romance and suspense?
A: I suppose the majority of my work involves elements of the romantic. The matters of the heart I find are infinitely complex and intricate, yet can also be very simple. I have no idea why I’m interested in melancholy, maybe because it offers no resolve.

Q: When considering human emotion in your work, how do you think your own emotional processes relate?
A: They are one and the same. It’s difficult to create when you feel nothing. I compare it to surfing: there’s no point riding every wave that comes, you have to wait for that one that you know will give more. Once I start a piece it´s hard to define where I end and where the work begins because essentially the work is a snapshot of what I’m feeling.

The idea of melancholy seems alluring to me because I think it is an honest representation of life. It is bittersweet. There’s a balance in there that I’m constantly looking for in my work.

Q: How do you see aspects of violence in your imagery?
A: There are varying degrees at different levels. The violence that comes across in some of my work is not to shock or glamorize but rather refer to that fact; that it is a part of existence. I am always intrigued by people’s concept that violence is morally wrong. On the whole, yes, I agree but it isn’t reality.

Q: I find your ink works have echoes in ways similar to cinematic tensions. Is your work informed by film?
A: I’m a big fan of film, I love images full-stop. In film, however, it appeals to more senses than just the eyes. Film has more tricks up its sleeve to create a reaction from its audience. I like very visual directors such as [Stanley] Kubrick, [David] Lynch and Wong Kar Wai. I like the feeling their films communicate. I see no difference between their work and contemporary art.

Q: I’ve seen many films from those directors. It seems Wong Kar Wai’s films are set in different temporal contexts. If In the Mood for Love harkens back to times, genres past, what do you make of his 2046? Can you speculate about the futurity of sexual, social emotion?¨
A: My all-time favourite films are In the Mood for Love and 2046. I consider them as one film, but in two halves, almost like a film diptych. They complement each other so well as a body of work. All Wong Kar Wai films contain themes that resonate with me deeply. Generally they are all very simple love stories but within them you find qualities in the character and story that transcend time and context. What I think WKW underlines so well in his work is that nothing changes. In the Mood for Love is set solely in the ´60s, and in 2046 the story flickers to the future and what I find is that time is irrelevant. These films could have been set at any moment and the effect/outcomes would be the same. I really stand firm in the belief that humans have evolved little when it comes to emotions and the heart. I could literally go on and on about these two films.

¨In my imagery I feel the same. I make images that are traditional in tone because that is where my imagination leads me. But the feelings that go into them are from experiences that I have now in the present. The line in 2046 sums it up: “All memories are traces of tears.”

Q: How do you see your repeated consideration of Eastern forms with eroticism?
A: I think the Eastern sensibilities will always come through in whatever direction my work takes. The tension when paired with another subject is what makes an artwork interesting. Culturally, the East has quite a reserved outlook on intimacy and sexuality. I’m not trying to break any boundaries, it is just what comes through in the work.

Q: I’m curious about the name of your work Love Must Die Young (Never Old Enough). It seems you want viewers to see your works variously, yet I’m curious if you’ve considered the obsession with youth in the East?
A: The titles to my work are sometimes as personal as the work themselves. I want the viewers to digest the works however they wish to. I don’t have any messages to give unto others or lessons to live by. However, the youth complex isn’t solely an Eastern trait — I think the East has a more concentrated level in the media. It’s a curious question to ask someone about staying young when the aim of any artist is to live forever.

Q: It’s intriguing, the various details you’re embedding in your imagery, like what looks like the phoenix crown, which is associated with bridal ceremonies in the past. Are you interested in rendering visible Eastern socio-sexual symbols?
A: The phoenix crown is a very attractive piece of manufacture. I like the visual impact of jewels and adornments from the past because of the labour and craft that has gone into creating them. I’m interested in the symbolism and sense of tradition of the bridal crown as opposed to using Eastern artifacts as a vessel for communication.

Q: Do you feel aspects of narrative with your imagery that seems carefully, poetically titled?
A: I feel my images have little in the way of storytelling. I make images as a way of working out certain thoughts and emotions, which I don’t necessarily understand. There is no linear reasoning to how and why things appear where they do. Some of my titles spawn images and vice versa. I feel they’re an integral part of my work. I write as much as I draw or paint, again, it’s an attempt to understand my thoughts and feelings.

Q: With the increasingly widespread dissemination of sexual imagery, what do you think of the temporal slowness aspects of producing your monochrome works that appear so intricately abundant with detail?
A: I think it comes, again, down to what something means to you. It depends on what purpose you want the imagery to serve. Most advertising and images in popular culture is throwaway and forgettable. I think if you truly care about what you do, you do it right and in your own time.

Q: When I happened on some of your imagery, I felt immediate, complex beauty in your work. How do you see concepts of beauty in your work?
A: Of course I like beautiful images, but beauty isn’t just about aesthetics and looking pretty. For something for me to find beautiful it needs to be honest.

Q: I notice you’re linking to the likes of the London Miles Gallery, which features some figurative surreal art. Has working in England influenced your work at all?
A: My family is from Hong Kong, I was born and grew up in the U.K. It has had a huge impact and influence on my work. Because the environment is opposite to that of the East, I have a need to try to preserve the Chinese in me. I suppose my work could be called escapism, though I feel it more a way of preserving my heritage.

Q: How has your family responded to your work? It seems interesting you have some desire to preserve ethnic identifications in your work. Are you interested in how expressions of sexuality are changing in Hong Kong?
A: That is a good question, one I’m not entirely sure of myself. My dad checks my website from time to time, I know that. He’s told me it looks impressive and I’m lucky to get that out of him. That’s as much feedback as I’ve had. The rest of my family in Hong Kong doesn’t have the Internet and I haven’t been back for a while either to show them. I think my showing my family would make me more nervous than putting my work in front of anyone else. They’re quite reserved in many ways with traditional views compared to my own liberal ways.

Hong Kong has tighter controls in what can be displayed in public domain, and, like my parents, the city isn´t keen in overtly sexualized imagery. It is hard to comment on a place I don’t know as well as the U.K. but from an outsider´s point of view that’s how I see it. The irony in China and Hong Kong is how strict they are when it comes to themes of an erotic nature — when one in four people in the world are of Chinese origin. Who are they trying to kid that we don’t like sex? Then again, China is overpopulated enough so maybe encouragement isn’t a good idea.

Q: You’re offering lithographs of some of your erotic work. Do you find there’s a community around your work?
A: I don’t feel an immediate community around me. I’m relatively unknown in the U.K. In fact, that probably applies to most of the world. I think people who know my work stumble across it by chance, but I hope that will change.

Q: Are there qualities to working with ink you love? Are there challenges to working with bodily forms in 2-D?
A: It’s the challenge of ink that I’m finding enjoyable. It forces you to focus and be conscious of your actions. Ink work is almost irreversible and again it’s that reminder that I’m only human.

Q: How was it being part of the Kids Are Alright tour and what´s next for you?
A: The Kids tour was a great opportunity for me to showcase my work to a wider audience although unfortunately it proved too costly to ship my work to the U.S. and had to pull out.¨

I hope the future is good to me. I´m working on a new body of traditional Chinese ink works that are in colour! So I hope to share them with you soon. For the time being, I’m happy to be doing what I’m doing although I have a want and need to experiment with photography and film at some point. I have some shows in London planned for the end of the year so again this will, hopefully, raise my profile.¨
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For more info: www.timleeart.com/timlee