Liam Lee is a Brooklyn, New York-based artist and designer who explores “the dissolution of the boundary between interior and exterior space, between man-made objects and the natural environment.” His work is distinguished by organic shapes and bold colors inspired by nature, including microorganisms, seaweed, and coral. He creates furniture and objects using a range of materials, such as wool, ceramic, and metal. Lee’s works have been exhibited at the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), and are held in the permanent collections of SFMOMA and Denver Art Museum. In 2023, he was a finalist for the Loewe Foundation Craft Prize and was named to Wallpaper*’s “USA 300” in 2023 and “USA 400” in 2024.
Tactile, immersive fiber installation 2025
Breathing Room is a tactile, immersive textile installation that evokes the atmosphere of a traditional Japanese moss garden. Set in an infinity room lined with mirrors, its undulating landscape blurs the boundaries between inside and outside, object and environment, furniture and terrain to achieve a visually expanded space. The artwork, Lee’s largest to date, employs wool fiber, a material Lee has worked with for many years and long associated with domestic labor and caretaking, as both medium and conceptual framework, transforming it into a sculptural conduit for exploring ideas of interiority, cultivation, and artifice. The fluid forms appear natural, like moss enveloping rocks and roots, yet are the result of meticulous planning that echoes horticultural logic: shapes that seem organic but are highly mediated by human intervention. In an increasingly disembodied visual culture, Breathing Room emphasizes interdependence, softness, and spatial intimacy, restoring sensations that can be physically experienced.
Materials: Tufted wool, upholstery foam, birch plywood.