After creating initial compositions in Photoshop for many years, Austin Lee has recently switched to an entirely new way of drawing, using the Virtual Reality program Oculus Rift.

Donning the Oculus headset, Lee labors in a purely virtual space—a “blue void” that “feels infinite,” he says. “I can draw in space, very gestural. You just press a button and it’s almost like extruding paint tubes.” The process isn’t always easy. “I’ll sit and use [the Oculus] four or five hours at a time,” he explains. “I’ll take it off and feel crazy. I really like it—but it does make me nauseous.”₁

In the Pace Editions studio, Lee uses his virtual drawings as the source material for his unique prints.  In some cases, Lee initiates his ideas from existing works of art, or patterns found in the world.  Brush Bear is inspired by a drawing his nephew made when he was around 5 or 6 years old.  His nephew’s drawing transitioned to a digital drawing in Oculus Rift, then to a painting, and now a monoprint, which has both a graphic hard edge and a soft airbrush quality.  The artist is currently creating this work as a sculpture. In translating images, Lee finds that something new comes to life in each iteration.

Austin Lee employs his signature airbrushing technique, in combination with the more traditional printmaking techniques of aquatint, relief, stenciling and rainbow roll.  Lee is simultaneously exploring the themes of the horse, flowers, figures and Brush Bear in the printshop and his studio.

The horse is a theme I constantly return to. I think I like to humanize them ... It’s a way to deal with human emotions without directly depicting a person.

 

I started making the flower paintings after visiting Istanbul. I really fell in love with the beautiful patterns in the architecture there. I was curious if I could make paintings that could be interesting without the figure and I started making flower paintings when I returned. They ended up still feeling like people.

 

There was a lot of brainstorming with Austin to divide the elements of each print into their respective techniques - what he would airbrush, what we would print relief and fade roll, etc.  Lots of trial and error also to see which of our inks would reverberate on paper the same way colors in pixels reverberate on a screen.  It was a challenge to adapt our materials to get that glow.

-Master Printer Sarah Carpenter

Since I make the sketches on a computer first, I will often project them on the wall to get a sense of what the best scale for the work would be.  I like making the digital drawings large because I'm basically translating these quick digital gestures, a flick of my wrist, into shapes that are body sized.  I like the big paintings and prints to feel effortless even though a lot of effort is put into making them look simple.