Cherie Lee is a self-taught Philadelphia-born artist who utilizes high speed rotary equipment to reduce genuine ostrich eggshells to small-scale sculptures appreciating, and testing, the limits of faculty and frailty. Whether her subject matter be ecological, sociological or anthropological, she is uniting substance and subject to gingerly evoke one basic concept: what you have is fragile, no matter it's strength.

Having grown up suburban-poor, her earliest materials were found objects in nature and readily available household items, predominantly paper. These early works resulted most often in two distinct styles: elaborate dimensional paper sculptures that are white-on-white plays of light and shadow, or elaborately detailed, flat black paper-cuts. Both styles notable for what they lack, or what's been taken away; a concept she hopes might foster a more solid appreciation for what is there.

Shortly after recognizing the simple eggshell as the ideal 4-dimensional 'canvas', one of her first pieces was admitted to the United States White House Permanent Collection. By October of 2018, she obtained the necessary tools that would allow her to begin exploring her medium in earnest. She's only now recognizing the potential of her unique medium, as well as her own skills handling it, and is looking forward to seeing just how far she can push them.

“However,” she cautions, “if the strength of an eggshell allows me to push it to it's furthest limits, it's fragility reminds me not to.”