Grace Lillian Lee's Woven Artwear Captivates at India Art Fair
Grace Lillian Lee's sculpted artwear, reminiscent of ceremonial totems and warrior armours, has become a standout feature at the India Art Fair. These intricate dresses, celebrated for their striking forms and vibrant colors, offer a profound glimpse into the indigenous culture of Australia. Lee, a Samsep artist, operates at the dynamic intersection of contemporary art, fashion, and living indigenous cultural practices, earning recognition for numerous pioneering achievements.
Trailblazing Achievements and Cross-Cultural Dialogues
In 2025, Lee made history by becoming the first indigenous Australian woman to present independently at Couture Fashion Week in Paris, a milestone that underscores her global impact. During her time in India, she is engaging in a significant conversation titled Dreaming in Thread, in collaboration with Raw Mango. This dialogue aims to explore rich cross-cultural exchanges between First Nations and South Asian creative traditions, highlighting shared values in textile practices and intergenerational wisdom.
Lee's artistic journey is deeply personal and relatable, with a strong emphasis on weaving as a conduit for cultural connection. Her practice resonates strongly with Indian textile traditions, which similarly prioritize craftsmanship and heritage. Reflecting on her path, Lee recalls that her strongest memory of weaving dates back to her final year of fashion design at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. Prior to this, she had not fully engaged with her indigenous culture, despite being surrounded by it through her father, an artist who supported indigenous creators via his gallery.
Rediscovering Identity Through Weaving
While in college, Lee embarked on a quest to find a form and practice she could understand more deeply, which naturally led her to questions about identity. Design school served as a crucial platform for challenging assumptions and thinking innovatively, equipping her with the tools to create critically. This foundation later enabled her to reconnect with her culture in an authentic and expansive manner.
A pivotal moment in her career came when she connected with Torres Strait Islander artist Dr Uncle Ken Thaiday Senior. He taught her the traditional technique of weaving using coconut palm fronds, an experience that instilled in her an overwhelming sense of pride and strength. "He encouraged me to continue and expand the practice through wearable adornment," Lee elaborates. From this inspiration, she reimagined the grasshopper weave through her unique lens, informed by her understanding of textiles, drape, and fashion, establishing the core of her current practice.
Weaving as a Mindful and Evolving Practice
Today, weaving has become a deeply mindful practice for Lee, with hand movements that echo the legacy of her ancestors. She describes it as a centering activity that forces one to slow down, be intentional, present, and mindful, reconnecting with hands, body, and embedded knowledge. Her works, such as The Winds of Guardian, blend the sculptural with the fantastical, honoring cultural traditions while reinterpreting them through a futuristic perspective. Lee views these body sculptures as warriors—powerful, larger-than-life, colorful, and bold—representing the human form even in the absence of a physical body.
The materiality of her art has evolved significantly over time. In earlier exhibitions like A Weave Through Time, acquired by the Cairns Art Gallery, Lee experimented with palm fronds alongside plastic and cotton, demonstrating weaving's versatility across different fabrications. She has since worked with a diverse range of materials, including leather, plastic, cotton, silk, and more recently bonded lycra. "The lycra allowed for lightness and movement, and was used in collaboration with the Weaving Collective for Flora, created for the Australian Ballet x Bangarra collaboration," she explains. Each material shift marks a new stage of exploration in her artistic journey.
Mentorship and Sector Growth
Inspired by mentors like Dr Uncle Ken Thaiday Senior, Lee is now dedicated to imparting knowledge to the next generation of indigenous designers through the Weaving Collective. As the founder of First Nations Fashion + Design (FNFD), she is committed to broadly growing the sector. "Sharing knowledge, supporting others, and creating pathways is central to how I work and how I run my businesses," she adds, emphasizing her role in fostering community and innovation within indigenous fashion.
