ROLLAND OLIVER HENRY LEE, was born in Seattle in 1955 and reared in the Greenlake area. His divergent perceptiveness, and creative aptness were recognized from an early age. Mr. Lee benefits from synesthesia; through this perceived color sensed from sounds, letters, and numbers he views his surroundings. Mr. Lee has worked at historically typical Northwest labor: fish cannery knife sharpener and truck driver, commercial fishing in Alaska, and at a sawmill in Washington. In the early eighties Mr. Lee became a union organizer for The Inland Boatmen's Union of the Pacific, and remains active in the IBU/ILWU. He has made his living in the Merchant Marine.

Mr. Lee's formal education includes a GED (1979) and an AS degree in Marine Technology (1983) from Seattle Central Community College. He also attended North Seattle Community College, the Evergreen State College, and Cornish College of the Arts.

Influences: Vassily Kandinsky, Thelonious Monk, e e cummings, and the Mystic Painters of the Northwest.

Artist's Statement
I am challenged by abstract expressionism emblematic of the 1950's movement - which is most gratifying when describing surfaces that allude to ruptured dimensions - and express a confused yet pleasant visual perception.