Yining Lee is a Taiwanese Boston-based visual artist whose practice centers on painting and ceramics. Her work delves into themes of isolation, spirituality, and personal narrative, often using symbolic imagery like the moon and pearls to evoke growth, solitude, and healing. With oil paints, acrylic gouache and ceramics as her primary mediums, she creates immersive emotional landscapes. Lee is currently studying for an MFA at the School of Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University and will graduate in 2025. Previously she received her BFA at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
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Education
2025 MFA in Studio Art, School of Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University, Boston, MA
2022 BFA in Studio Art, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
Awards
2024 Montague Travel Grant, School of Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University, Boston, MA
2024 Summer Domestic Travel Grant, School of Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University, Boston, MA
2024 Graduate Student Development Fund, School of Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University, Boston, MA
2023 Tuition Scholarship, School of Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University, Boston, MA
2018 Creative Honors Scholarship, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
2017 The runner-up award of Botanical Garden Instagram Photography Contest,
University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
Group Shows
2025Through Shifting Lenses, SMFA at Tufts MFA Thesis Exhibition, Aidekman Arts Center, Tufts University Art Galleries, Medford, MA, May 6–18, 2025. Reception on Friday, May 16 from 5-8PM
2025 It Followed Me Home, Gallery 263, Cambridge MA On view February 13–March 16, Reception Friday, February 21, 6–8 pm rsvp
2025 Two-Person Exhibition In Between with Artist MiJung Yun, Mission Hill Gallery, Boston, MA
2024 Small Works, Urbanity Dance, Boston, MA
2024 Eleventh Hour, Mission Hill Gallery, Boston, MA
2024 Material Matters, SMFA The Well Gallery, Curated by Urvija Mafatlal, Boston, MA
2024 Storytellers, The Mudflat Studio; National Juried Exhibition, Juried by Celia Feldberg, Somerville, MA
2024 The Mudflat Cup Show; National Juried Exhibition, Juried by Martha Grover, Somerville, MA
2024 Painting and Drawing Biennial, SMFA Weems Atrium, Juried by Yutong Shi, Boston, MA
2024 What's Your Sign? photography student exhibition at SMFA Weems Atrium, Boston, MA
2024 Please Please, MFA candidate'25 exhibition, SMFA Mission Hill Gallery, Boston, MA
2024 Time to Clay, SMFA Weems Atrium, Boston, MA
2023 Artsin Square online Selected Artist
2022 Mélange, SAIC galleries, Chicago,IL
2022 Spring Undergrads Exhibition, SAIC galleries, Chicago, IL
2021 My Dreams These Days. Official Selection. Virtual and in-person shows at SAIC, Chicago, IL
2019 Class group workshop exhibition, included in, 'Goat Island Archive- we have
discovered the performance by making it.'Chicago Cultural Center, DCASE Chicago,
IL
2018 Mycelial: Street Parliament, temporary video installation response to the exhibition, organized by Erica Mott, Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago, IL
Artist Residency
2024 Anderson Ranch Arts Center, “Gouache and Mixed Media” with Yolanda Gonzalez, Snowmass Village, CO
Bibliography
Flaherty, Julie. "Art Students Lift Eyes and Spirits in a Tufts Dental Clinic." Tufts Now, April 7, 2025.
Collaborative Projects
Tufts Dental Clinic Ceiling Art Installation, Tufts University School of Dental Medicine, Boston, MA, 2025 (in collaboration with fellow SMFA artists)
Selected through a juried process to create original artwork installed above dental chairs, aiming to enhance patient experience and foster patient-provider engagement.
Collections
Under the Sea: A Book of Colors and Shapes. Riso print, School of Museum of Fine Arts Libary at Tufts University, Boston, MA
Art Fair
2024 The Massachusetts Independent Comics Expo (MICE) at Boston University, Boston, MA
2024 Fall School of Museum of Fine Arts Art Sale, Boston, MA
2024 Spring Sidewalk Sale at School of Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA
2023 Fall School of Museum of Fine Arts Art Sale, Boston, MA
2022 Spring Art sale at School of the Art Institute of Chicago’s Ballroom, Chicago, IL
Contact
Email
yiningleeart@gmail.com