Today we’d like to introduce you to Deandra Lee
Hi Deandra, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
Monster High dolls were my childhood obsession. Its individuality, inventiveness, and approach to celebrating individual diversity in all facets of a person’s identity were admirable. This is the reason I became so fond of taking pictures of them using my very first iPad when I was thirteen years old. I enjoyed styling and learning new techniques for putting various effects to photos. Eventually, I started taking my own photos of myself and rapidly developed the habit of learning how to edit them on my phone. After learning how to operate my first camera, which I didn’t receive until 2018, I became familiar with various editing programs including Photoshop and Lightroom.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
No, it hasn’t been an easy ride, hehe. My biggest challenges were figuring out how I was going to develop my own style, learn how to use social media, learn to confront my former work, and go from hiding myself to opening myself. To be honest, I’ve come this far in part because of these problems, some of which still exist. Because I believe things would have gone differently if I hadn’t realized what I was going through, asked myself these questions, and came to terms with it.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
As an artist, I use stock photos of various materials and items to create a visual experience and mind landscape. Surrealist pictures that discuss the various facets of the black experience are part of my body of work. The identity, the history, the hair, the eggshells, the carnage, among other things In my work, I show a lot of that by exposing myself to this unexpected world in a new, colorful way for the majority of my work. The new body of work I’m producing is necessary for me to gain a deeper understanding of what it means to be a Black surrealist artist discussing the various realities and reflections of Black people’s experiences.
How do you think about happiness?
The little moments I can spend together with friends and family. Because they’re the reason I continue to exist and do what I love to do.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.deandraleeart.org/
Image Credits
Deandra Lee
