1. Devon Lee

Cultist proudly presents “100 Creatives,” where we feature Miami’s cultural superheroes in random order. Have suggestions for future profiles? Email cultist@miaminewtimes.com with the whos and whys.

1. Devon Lee

Devon Lee is a Trinidad-born artist who creates visually explosive work inspired by the Internet. After moving to unincorporated Dade in the summer of her 12th year, Lee struggled to fit in with her peers. In order to assimilate, the artist joined the A/V club and helped create a horror film, which was eventually shortlisted in the New York Underground Film Festival. Although the club’s entry didn’t win, one of its other shorts, “Are You Feeling Lonely? Why, Yes. I Am.” was featured at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival.

After graduating from the Cooper Union in New York, Lee moved back to Miami

and worked as an office administrator, doing data

entry to support her family, but mostly surfing the web. At night, she sang in a cover

band for weddings and bar mitzvahs, all while building a rewarding career as a fine artist.

In the past three years, Lee has made strides as a creative force on

the international art scene. She has had three solo shows, exhibiting

from Venice to São Paulo. Deeply inspired by how subcultures use the Internet, Lee has formed an acclaimed and hard-to-follow body of

work. Her website is in itself a

work of art. Many of her projects are rooted in the phrase “I feel like ‘life’ left me behind a long time ago.”

When Lee isn’t switching flights from London to Paris, she’s working on her animal hat line, Powwow. The hats are inspired by her love of chinchillas, and a portion of the proceeds goes to matching chinchillas with poor, cold children in the Third World. 

1. List five things that inspire you.

– The Internet
– Brainstorming with my girls
– Break-up text messages (dislike button)
– “Da club”
– Kittens, not puppies

2. What was your last big project?

After my last solo show in Madrid, I was asked by some friends to design the album

cover for hahahelp, a local band. I was thrilled to work on it, and I’m very excited with the end result. They’re my favorite local band. 

3. What’s your next big project?

I’m organizing an online artists’ exhibition space entitled “metameta.net.” It’s like the Internet inside the Internet.

4. Why do you do what you do?

I do what I do because I couldn’t

imagine doing anything else. To be. To know. To challenge. To learn. To

experience. To resist. To  never stop. To keep going. Or as Pitbull would say, “I ain’t got time for no games!”

5. What’s something you want Miami to know about you?

I’m not just an artist; I’m a real person too.
6. What’s something you don’t want Miami to know about you?

I still love Ma$e and Korn.

The Creatives:

2. Bert Rodriguez
3. Cristina Lei Rodriguez
4. FriendsWithYou
5. Typoe
6. Wendy Wischer
7. Lucas Leyva
8. Jen Stark
9. Adler Guerrier
10. Susan Lee-Chun
11. Andres and Diego Meza-Valdes
12. Beatriz Monteavaro
13. Timothy Buwalda
14. Edwidge Danticat
15. Juraj Kojs
16. Cat Dove
17. Campbell McGrath
18. Frances Trombly
19. Jose Mertz
20. Emma Trelles
21. Pablo Cano
22. Natasha Tsakos
23. Freegums
24. Aurora Natrix
25. Gean Moreno
26. Yaddyra Peralta
27. Barron Sherer
28. Brigid Baker
29. Daniel Fila
30. McLaine Oberhellmann
31. Fro Rojas
32. Annie Hollingsworth
33. Preston Allen
34. Cristina Molina
35. David Josef Tamargo
36. Jillian Mayer
37. Alfonso Vega
38. Natasha Lopez de Victoria
39. Aholsniffsglue

40. Heather Maloney
41. Jorge Rubiera
42. Elaine Lancaster
43. Nick Duckart
44. Danielle Estefan
45. John Dufresne
46. Monica Lopez de Victoria
47. Bill Bilowit
48. Alette Simmons-Jimenez
49. Tawnie Silva
50. Ginger Bardot
51. Jonathan David Kane
52. Naomi Fisher
53. Rocky Grimes
54. Teresa Barcelo
55. Paul Tei
56. Lee Materazzi