Charlotte Lees working with history
Take a look at the sculptures Charlotte Lees has made over the years, and you’ll see the work of an artist unafraid to test new paths. Her work might be something flat, almost like a painting, which hangs on the wall. It might be a totem of objects and figures arising from a platform. Or it might be a collage of cut-wood leaves painted and assembled to overlap each other just as they do on the forest floor.
While the Solon artist shakes up form and materials, one thing is constant: nature always seems to make at least a cameo appearance. Maybe it’s something simple, like the highly abstracted shapes of waves or trees. Or maybe it’s more overt, like those cut-wood leaves, which allude to Lees’ surroundings. Her home abuts part of the Cleveland Metroparks land, which provides plenty of inspiration.
“I am an advocate of nature and most of my wood sculptures reflect that attitude,” said Lees. She is one of 14 artists with work represented in the PNC SmartHome exhibit at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History.
The criteria that curator Christy Gray used to select work for the house included sustainability. Through materials, processes or subject matter, the work had to speak to concerns for the earth and the environment. In Lees’ case, it isn’t just that her sculpture pays homage to leaves. ”My carved and painted sculptures are created from end-cut and recycled wood,” she said. “I feel a certain sense of history when working with this material.”
Lees’ work also reflects her ongoing interest in lifelong learning. 
In 1995, she received the Ohio Arts Council Individual Artists Fellowship, and used it to study ancient musical instruments. She turned what she discovered back into inspiration for a body of work, imbuing her art with layers of history and meaning.
The best art, after all, is usually more than mere decoration.
“Public art makes ideas visual,” Lees says. “It encourages interaction and has a ‘WOW’ factor.”
Artwork shown: Falling Leaves, Charlotte Lees
Charlotte Lee portrait photo credit: Herb Ascherman
