Beyond the Veil – Jaylen Lee
Beyond the Veil
Jaylen Lee
Born in San Diego, California and living in Huntsville, Alabama, Jaylen Lee is a Senior art major at Vanderbilt University in Nashville. Inspired by artists such as Kehinde Wiley, Jeannette Ehlers, and Faith Ringgold, Jaylen Lee creates artwork surrounding the topics of identity and the lived Black and queer experience in the United States. He primarily uses acrylic paint, charcoal, ink, and hair in his works to facilitate discussion and highlight themes such as the representation of Black and queer communities, systemic racism, inequality, and discrimination.
The recipient of the 2024 Mid-South Ceramics Award for a large vessel, Jaylen Lee also uses ceramic in his work such as his coil vase, Sun, which highlighted the beauty and artistry Black hair. As a Vanderbilt student, Jaylen has been involved in two exhibitions. His solo exhibition, America and Me (2022), opened at the Bishop Johnson Black Cultural Center and showcased seven acrylic paintings centered around the experiences of marginalized communities in the United States. He also participated in a group exhibition titled Face Value (2023) and displayed his charcoal drawing, Anthropocene, about the effects of climate change on the environment.
About the installation:
The central focus of my work is the Black experience. My artwork serves to highlight important issues and create more space for the representation of Black people in the world of art. In my practice, I explore the topics of Black Exceptionalism, systemic racism, inequality, conformity, and Black queerness using acrylic paint, charcoal, installation, and performance as my main materials. In my most recent works, I discuss Black queerness by using braided hair to represent the inner turmoil and fight against social conformity that Black queer youth experience while growing up and discovering their sexuality in families that do not accept them for who they are.
The primary influence for my art has always been the experience of growing up Black in America. My high school experience after the 2016 election shifted the subject of my works tremendously. Being one of the few Black students at my school, art allowed me to speak up about the discrimination and oppression Black people faced and take a clear stance on important topics. However, my college years provided a second shift in the themes of my work. The liberty to explore my sexuality away from family allowed me to expand the subjects of my art and include more discussion of queerness in the Black community.
The installation:
