MAIA RUTH LEE’S “THE CONVEYOR” AT PROSPECT.6 NEW ORLEANS
Art Production Fund is thrilled to support Maia Ruth Lee's presentation at this year’s Prospect.6, on view from November 2, 2024 to February 2, 2025. “Prospect.6: The Future is Present, The Harbinger is Home” is an exhibition presenting new works by 51 contemporary artists installed throughout New Orleans. Curated by The Susan Brennan Co-Artistic Directors Miranda Lash and Ebony G. Patterson, the triennial features large-scale and ambitious installations in both galleries and public spaces across the city.
Maia Ruth Lee’s newly commissioned work, The Conveyor (2024), explores themes of migration and rootlessness. The installation features plastic trays circulating on an airport conveyor belt, filled with items like rope, mud, ceramics, and personal belongings, alongside ropes draped with black-and-white banners reminiscent of prayer flags. Commonplace items such as computers contrast with delicate keepsakes and gifts, highlighting the transitory nature of migrants’ journeys.
Additionally, Lee’s Bondage Baggage sculptures, inspired by her childhood experiences at the international airport in Kathmandu, reference the bound parcels found circulating on conveyor belts. Made from linen, clothing, and reclaimed materials, these bundles are meticulously wrapped and tied, symbolizing the stories, ideas, and hopes carried by travelers around the world.
Maia Ruth Lee, originally from Busan, South Korea, has lived in diverse cities including Kathmandu, Seoul, and New York City before settling in Salida, Colorado in 2020. Her multidisciplinary practice, informed by themes of dispersion and mobility, spans photography, video, painting, and sculpture, using translation to explore concepts of borders, community, and language. Since relocating to Salida, Lee's work has been influenced by her new environment, with pieces like the Bondage Baggage serving as grids and maps that reflect her navigation of life's contours. Lee's art offers new lexicons for lives marked by transience and loss, and she has exhibited widely, including at the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver and the 2019 Whitney Biennial.
Dates:
November 2, 2024 - February 2, 2025
Location:
7200 N Peters St
Arabi, LA 70032
Hours:
Monday–Tuesday, Closed
Wednesday–Sunday, 11am–5pm
