School of Creative
Industries
Lee Lian Hai
Lian Hai worked as an architect for the last 25 years. While his interest in art therapy first arose in his earlier works in the 1990s, growing influences in healthcare left an indelible mark on him.
Lian Hai embarked on art psychotherapy training to integrate his experiences into the next phase of his life—pursuing social and community interests. Through the MA Art Therapy programme at LASALLE College of the Arts, he had the opportunity to provide therapeutic services to families and individuals experiencing rough sleeping conditions, as well as at-risk adolescents given opportunities for academic growth in residential settings.
Lian Hai engages his life experiences in both his personal art practice and professional enhancement. He believes boundless imagination in art creates many personal and therapeutic opportunities that can be harnessed visually or embodied at multiple levels.
Work
Embrace
Chinese calligraphy paper, butter paper, acrylic
210 x 50 x 50 cm
(2025)
Seen as a component of art therapy, the artwork revolves around three intersubjective elements:
• The embrace of the individual’s vulnerabilities: the client at the centre.
• The cocoon’s embrace being the protective environment that holds this vulnerability in a safe space: the art therapist’s empathy and embodiment, holding the safe environment.
• The impermanence of the emotions within this vulnerability.
The void in the ‘embrace’ gesture is a conjecture about the nature of reality. The supposition is that the void can be filled, and the solidity of the sphere can be made to dissolve.
Also, the solid view of the cocoon’s sphere disappears as the layers of paper rotate from view. There is a metaphorical probing of the boundaries between the presence of emotions and their impermanence.
The artwork serves as a platform for change in therapy.
