Last updated: 26 October 2026
Michelle Jane Lee is the Korean-born, Los Angeles painter who turns worn T-shirts and old bedsheets into grids of colour. Here you will find our take on her Skin Contact series, where she has shown, and how to buy her work.
Our take on Michelle Jane Lee
Lee paints in a colour alphabet she invented, translating letters and names into grids of coloured squares. She has been open about what drives it. “I have been really loud and adamant about the fact that my work is about being heartbroken, or wanting or needing someone,” she told the Daily Bruin in 2014.
The Skin Contact works go further, painting onto worn cotton stretched over birch panel. Her statement on Platform says the series was “a response to the early days of the pandemic-induced isolation”, using T-shirts from past lovers and friends. “These compositions function like love letters reduced to their essential structure.”
The works are small, about 30 x 23 cm, and none is on open sale right now. Platform, her online gallery in Los Angeles, takes enquiries.
Michelle Jane Lee: the essentials
- Korean-born and raised between the US and Korea; lives in Los Angeles.
- Studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the Yale University Summer School of Art in Norfolk, Connecticut, according to her CV.
- Works in flashe on worn cotton T-shirts and bedsheets over birch panel, using her own colour alphabet.
- Shown by Platform in Los Angeles and Gallery Chaio in Taipei.
- A Lane Crawford Creative Call Out finalist, showing her Love Letters series in Hong Kong in 2017 and Shanghai in 2018.
Michelle Jane Lee exhibitions
- Basic.Space London, with Platform, The Old Selfridges Hotel, London, 13 to 14 June 2026.
- “Perfect Lovers” (Untitled), solo show, Rusha & Co., Los Angeles, 2026.
- Soft Landing, solo show, Gallery Chaio, Taipei, 2024.
- Skin Contact, solo show, Terminal 27, Los Angeles, 2021.
- No new show has been announced.
Where to buy a Michelle Jane Lee painting
We found no prints, editions or UK stockist.
- Originals from Platform: six works from 2023 and 2026, each 30.5 x 22.9 cm (12 x 9 in), are listed on Platform. All were marked out of stock when we checked, with prices on enquiry.
Michelle Jane Lee FAQs
What is Michelle Jane Lee’s Skin Contact series?
Paintings on worn T-shirts and bedsheets stretched over birch panel, made in response to pandemic isolation.
Can I buy a Michelle Jane Lee painting?
Not on open sale right now. Platform, her online gallery in Los Angeles, lists her work and takes enquiries.
Where is Michelle Jane Lee from?
She was born in Korea, raised between the US and Korea, and lives in Los Angeles.
Has Michelle Jane Lee shown in London?
Yes. Platform brought her work to Basic.Space London in June 2026.
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Main image: Michelle Jane Lee. Photo courtesy of the artist, via Platform. Cropped and framed by CoolCuration. Exhibition details and stock last checked: 26 October 2026.
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