Fiji, 1976
Mason James Lee is an independent leading figure in Fiji’s contemporary art scene. Chosen by the legendary Dr Epeli Hau’ofa at USP’s Oceania Centre for Arts & Culture, Mason was a pioneering member of the Red Wave artists collective, exploring an approach to artmaking detached from the rules and expectations of Eurocentric trends, and invigorated by a reconnection with indigenous Pacific identity. Of both Chinese and Fijian heritage, this award-winning artist has honed his skills as a freelancer for over two decades, gaining confidence in a variety of art mediums and ways to innovate from public art such as murals and relief art to endless creativity. His trademark attention to realistic detail combined with interpretive symbolism rooted in local culture and environment has attracted the attention of collectors and curators both locally and across the world. Mason’s masterpieces have been exhibited in the UK, Germany, China, USA, New Zealand and Australia, as well as within the Pacific region where he has represented Fiji in a few prominent arts festivals. Mason enjoys art very much and often compares it to the revelation of the unseen world. The exploration of different techniques allows him to become more familiar with this world and dare to translate in colour and patterns some tormented and heavily patterned seas. His paintings offer to the eyes of the viewer a journey through his rich symbolic imagination.