About The Studio

About The Studio

Artist Statement

I make art to help us slow down and actually look at the weird, holy, and complicated moment we’re living in.

People often ask where and when my studio journey began. The truth is a whirlwind: I moved to New Orleans just three weeks before Hurricane Katrina hit to begin graduate school at the University of New Orleans. At the time, I was living at 2000 Lake Shore Drive in Gentilly and working at Forstall Art Supplies on Harrison Avenue. The storm fractured everything, and like so many, I ultimately had to walk away from the city and my original graduate program. But I refused to throw the towel in on my dreams. Facing a total loss of employment and a completely upended life, I decided to carve out my own path. In January 2006, I founded JML-Studio. What started out of absolute necessity as a way to create my own job has now been active and growing for two decades.

I title my exhibitions Living Here as a literal acknowledgment of our shared condition: we are all living here, constantly, through layers of chaos and grace. While my work is informed by the rigorous traditions of Impressionist landscape and the stripped-back clarity of Minimalism, my practice is rooted in the "Berenstain Bears" honesty of my own environment. I am interested in how deep ancestral knowledge—the myths, belief systems, and spiritual endurance that have survived for centuries—leaks into the visual language of our daily lives.

In my work, a neighborhood taco truck or a local grill is treated with the same reverence as a religious icon. These are the landmarks of our persistence. In a public culture often defined by speed, erasure, and the disposable, I choose to focus on what remains. Whether I am documenting the aftermath of a disaster or the quiet intimacy of a street corner, my art functions as an open dialogue—an invitation to stand still and reflect on the time, the place, and the shared myths that define our presence today.

Studio / Services Statement

Jean-Marie Lee Studio specializes in fine art painting and site-specific work. I believe that the spaces we inhabit—especially hospitals, nursing homes, churches, and community hubs—deserve art that reflects the dignity and complexity of the people inside them.

My studio focuses on creating environments that feel grounded and intentional, bringing care and context to the walls we live within. I translate the "weird, holy, and complicated" nature of human experience into murals and installations that honor the spirit of a place, helping people feel more at home in the moments they spend there.

Jean-Marie Lee is available for instruction in foundation and advanced painting, foundation drawing, two-dimensional design, color theory, site-specific and installation art, and gallery management.

CV available on request

MFA, Studio Art/Painting, Boston University 2007

BSIS, Arts Administration/Interior Design, Mississippi State University 2004