Sacha Lees Explained

Sacha Lees
Birth Place:Greymouth, New Zealand
Education:Hagley Community College
Christchurch Polytechnic
Known For:Portraiture and fantastic art
Awards:Adam Portraiture Award (2020)

Sacha Lees (born 1977) is a New Zealand artist, working primarily in oil painting in the genres of portraiture and fantastic art. In 2020 she was awarded the Adam Portraiture Award, New Zealand's premier portrait prize.[1] Lees also works as a freelance commercial artist.

Training and career

Lees was born in Greymouth and grew up in Kumara, on the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island. Her early training in art, figure drawing and visual communication took place in Christchurch at Hagley Community College and Christchurch Polytechnic. Between 1997 and 2004 she worked at Weta Workshop in Wellington[2] as a creature designer, model maker, sculptor and artist on Sir Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings film trilogy[3] and designed some of the commercial merchandise for the productions.[4] Her hands (in make-up) also 'acted' the part of Gollum's hands in a scene in The Fellowship of the Ring where Gollum is tortured.[5]

Lees spent a year studying old master art techniques in Florence, Italy. On her return to New Zealand, Lees applied the skills acquired in Italy to the development of her art through a series of mainly private portraiture and fantastic art commissions.[6]

In December 2010 Lees was included in the exhibition White Cloud Worlds at the Dowse Art Museum,[7] and the book of the same title published in 2011.[8] The exhibition and book were a showcase of fantasy and science-fiction art by New Zealand artists, curated by Paul Tobin and Kate Jorgensen. Lees subsequently featured in the two follow-up volumes of White Cloud Worlds and associated exhibitions in Wellington and Upper Hutt between 2012 and 2017.[9]

In 2023, Lees began working towards a Master of Fine Arts postgraduate degree at Massey University in Wellington.

Adam Portraiture Award

Lees has been a finalist in the Adam Portraiture Award three times. In 2012 she entered with a portrait of New Zealand celebrity chef Peter Gordon.[10] In 2020 she won the Award with her self-portrait entitled Sometimes an outline coloured in. The judges described Lees as “ruthless in her self-scrutiny”.[11] In 2022 she was Highly Commended and won the People's Choice award with See me, a portrait of her daughter.[12]

Commercial art

Lees has been commissioned several times by New Zealand Post to design special commemorative editions of stamps and coins. She has designed two separate editions of stamps featuring The Lord of the Rings, the first in 2002-03, and the second in 2021 marking the 20th anniversary of the release of The Fellowship of the Ring.[13] Alongside the 2021 stamps, Lees also designed sets of Lord of the Rings commemorative silver coins.[14] The following year, Lees was again commissioned by New Zealand Post to design five commemorative gold and silver coins for the Platinum Jubilee of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.[15] Design of the 2023 New Zealand Annual Coin - Native Bee - Ngaro Huruhuru.[16]

Exhibitions

Solo

Group

Publications

Works by Sacha Lees have been published in the following books:

Notes and References

  1. News: Witton . Bridie . Self-taught Lower Hutt artist wins prestigious $20,000 portraiture award . 13 March 2023 . Stuff.co.nz . 26 February 2020.
  2. Web site: SACHA LEES . Homepage . 11 July 2023.
  3. Web site: Lord of the Rings movie credits . Lord of the Rings Fanclub Scrapbook . 13 March 2023 . Page 18.
  4. Web site: Meriadoc 'Merry' Brandybuck . The Museum - sold out products from our friends at Weta . 13 March 2023.
  5. Web site: Amidi . Amid . ‘Lord of the Rings’ Animation Supervisor Randall William Cook Speaks Out On Andy Serkis . Cartoon Brew . 13 March 2023.
  6. News: Wenman . Eleanor . Classical and modern art techniques combine in Hutt artist exhibition . 30 August 2024 . Stuff.co.nz . 28 September 2017.
  7. Web site: Healy . Rachel . Get Lost in "White Cloud Worlds" . dowse.org.nz . Dowse Art Museum . 13 March 2023.
  8. Book: Tobin . Paul . White Cloud Worlds . 2011 . Harper Design . New Zealand . 9780062197856 . 13 March 2023.
  9. Web site: Exhibitions . whitecloudworlds.com . 13 March 2023.
  10. Web site: Adam Portraiture Award 2012 . New Zealand Portrait Gallery Te Pūkenga Whakaata . 13 March 2023.
  11. Web site: Adam Portraiture Award 2020 Finalists . New Zealand Portrait Gallery Te Pūkenga Whakaata . 13 March 2023.
  12. Web site: Adam Portraiture Award 2022 People's Choice Award . New Zealand Portrait Gallery Te Pūkenga Whakaata. 13 March 2023.
  13. Web site: New stamps celebrate Lord of the Rings twenty-year anniversary, hand painted by artist Sacha Lees . New Zealand Post Media Centre . 13 March 2023.
  14. Web site: NZ Post release The Fellowship of the Ring 20th anniversary coins . New Zealand Post Media Centre . 13 March 2023.
  15. Web site: 2022 Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee 5oz Silver Proof-Like Coin . New Zealand Post Collectibles . 13 March 2023.
  16. Web site: 2023 New Zealand Annual Coin - Native Bee - Ngaro Huruhuru Silver Proof Coin . NZ Post Collectables . 1 May 2023 .
  17. Book: Russel . Gary . The Lord of the Rings – The Art of 'The Fellowship of the Ring' . 2002 . Houghton Mifflin Harcourt . 978-0618212903.
  18. Book: Russel . Gary . The Lord of the Rings – The Art of 'The Two Towers' . 2003 . Houghton Mifflin Harcourt . 978-0618331307.
  19. Book: Russel . Gary . The Art of 'The Lord of the Rings' . 2004 . Mariner Books . 978-0618510832.
  20. Web site: Spectrum 15 . Spectrum Fantastic Art . Spectrum . 13 March 2023.
  21. Web site: Spectrum 16 . Spectrum Fantastic Art . Spectrum . 13 March 2023.
  22. Web site: Spectrum 17 . Spectrum Fantastic Art . Spectrum . 13 March 2023.
  23. Book: Tobin . Paul . White Cloud Worlds Vol 1 . 2011 . Harper Design. New Zealand . 978-0062197856.
  24. Book: Tobin . Paul . White Cloud Worlds Vol 2 . 2012 . Harper Collins . New Zealand . 978-0473215040.
  25. Web site: Spectrum 19. Spectrum Fantastic Art . Spectrum . 13 March 2023.
  26. Book: Tobin . Paul . White Cloud Worlds Vol 3 . 2015 . Ignite Inc. . New Zealand . 978-0473329693.
  27. Book: Fenner . Cathy . Women of Wonder - The Best of Women in Contemporary Fantastic Art . 2015 . Underwood Books . 978-1599290720.

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