Kirjahaku

Baron is pleased to present artist Joyce Lee’s debut book, dedicated to the artists archive of watercolour and pencil works, exploring aspects of love, sex and sexuality, and the human body. Like the surrealists before her, Lee’s work seeks to explore the subconscious. Using lucid landscapes and the body, the artist mixes high culture with trash culture, the picturesque with the disgusting and the two activities of living, humour and sex. Lee places us in a world with perverse personal thoughts and multiple realities. In our image-sharing society, where photography depicting sexuality and the human body is prohibited and censored, Lee’s work manages to challenge such rules by creating work around sex and the body, in the media of watercolour and pencil, deemed acceptable in these spaces to communicate such themes. As such, Lee’s work has found contemporary relevance on social networks, with liberators wanting to challenge ongoing censorship rules around the human body and sex, by sharing the artists work. Lee’s work has been published internationally and received critical praise from publications including Numero and Playboy Magazine. The book also contains an essay by academic Pernilla Ellens editor of Namio Harukawa (Baron 2021) and Death Book lll (Baron 2022).

International storyteller and performance poet Joyce Lee reflects on 15 years of lovers and her life of loving and learning in Dancing in the Presence of Men. She explores the raw emotion and physicality of love without censorship or permission, examining loss, grief, sensuality, self-ownership and healing. Sonya Renee Taylor (author of The Body Is Not An Apology) says, "The poems in Dancing in the Presence of Men are a map toward what it means to gather up the far flung pieces of our womanhood and mosaic ourselves back into source magic. Joyce Lee's new work dances, inviting us all to do the same, no matter who's watching."

A complete guide to modern calligraphy with Artsynibs. Joyce Lee first picked up a calligraphy pen when she started making stationery for her wedding. For her, it is now a way of life, her career and what she calls a 'calligraventure'. In this practical and inspiring book, Joyce introduces modern calligraphy, including the tools you need and how to use them. She teaches various techniques and methods for creating beautiful artwork to give you the confidence to embark on creative projects of your own, including handwritten envelopes, gift tags and an elegant monogram. To help you practise your handwriting skills, the book is accompanied by an envelope of photocopiable practice sheets, contained within an attractive hardback folder. However, this is more than just an instructional guide; it encourages you to find joy in committing your thoughts to paper. Joyce believes that calligraphy is not just about perfecting the strokes, but about patience, concentration and slowing down to be mindful of the moment. Creativity is at the heart of us all; it simply needs to be unlocked, nurtured and given an outlet. This book is everything calligraphy should be: classic, stylish, creative and thought-provoking. Fall in love with the art of handwritten lettering as you release your own creativity on the page.