Lee Mingwei Stone Journey

                                          Nature VS Art
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​This week I spent many hours (actually days) in an exhibition at the Auckland Art Gallery of the work of Lee Mingwei. In encountering his work “Stone Journey” I came face to face with one of the biggest questions I have as to why we make art? I have always seen nature as accomplishing many of the aspirations I have for my work. I sometimes wonder why I spend years creating a painting when nature is far more beautiful than anything I can create.
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I realised in the process of looking at Lee’s work that the natural and the human-made provide different experiences. For many of us being in nature provides similar opportunities to reflect and to contemplate, which may lead us to ponder the nature of the universe and our place within it. Whereas experiencing this through interacting with human creativity brings us to an understanding of ourselves or a consciousness of what it means to be human at this moment in time.