{"id":101704,"date":"2026-02-12T13:08:04","date_gmt":"2026-02-12T20:08:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/?p=101704"},"modified":"2026-02-17T22:21:42","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T05:21:42","slug":"lines-of-influence-desarae-lee-on-drawing-storytelling-and-seeing-herself-in-the-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/lines-of-influence-desarae-lee-on-drawing-storytelling-and-seeing-herself-in-the-work\/","title":{"rendered":"Lines of Influence: Desarae Lee on Drawing, Storytelling, and David Habben"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>\u201cAbove all, see that I am here.\u201d For Salt Lake City artist Desarae Lee<\/a>, that line anchors everything. Working primarily in pen and ink, she creates intricate narrative drawings built from obsessive, meditative linework. \u201cThe work is small: look closer,\u201d she says. \u201cAccept what is unchangeable\u2014mistakes made with ink cannot be erased\u2014and we\u2019ll remake ourselves to fit these jagged, inevitable spaces.\u201d<\/h4>\n

Lee\u2019s practice is shaped by trauma and chronic illness, and by a determination to connect. \u201cIt is an attempt to connect the hidden places in me to the hidden places in the viewer, to create a bridge over the immense expanse of our differing perceptions, beliefs, and experiences,\u201d she says. \u201cSee the beauty in our grotesque, find the light in encroaching darkness, and embrace humor in spite of our pain.\u201d<\/h4>\n

It makes sense that she would be drawn to an artist equally committed to line and storytelling.<\/h4>\n

\u201cDavid Habben<\/a> is the Utah artist that has most influenced my own career and practice,\u201d Lee says. She first encountered his work in a basement gallery inside a record store on 3rd South in Salt Lake City. \u201cI was entranced with the natural and flowing linework,\u201d she recalls. \u201cIt was something I\u2019d been trying to incorporate into my own pieces.\u201d<\/h4>\n

\u201cHabben\u2019s work is illustrative,\u201d she says. \u201cEven as it developed to incorporate raw brushwork and movement, the work continues to contain figures that tell emotionally powerful stories.\u201d<\/h4>\n
\"\"<\/a>

David Habben, “Way of the Cross”<\/p><\/div>\n

For Lee, that mattered. \u201cIllustration isn\u2019t always respected in the art world, but seeing someone pull it off so effectively and achieve success in both illustration and fine art makes me feel more validity in my own illustrative practice.\u201d<\/h4>\n

Years after first encountering his work, Habben and Lee showed work together at Kayo Gallery. \u201cI remember thinking that showing with him meant that I had broken through\u2014I was a real artist!\u201d<\/h4>\n

By that point, Lee\u2019s own career already included national exhibitions, publications, and numerous awards, including Best of Show and Best Illustrator. She is a published author and illustrator and served as a founding board member of Salt Lake City\u2019s Downtown Artist Collective.<\/h4>\n

But her trajectory shifted after she was diagnosed with an incurable chronic illness.<\/h4>\n
\"\"<\/a>

Desarae Lee, “Magpie”<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cThere was a time when I could spend hours in inky meditation brought on by repetitive hand movements,\u201d she says. Now, her illness\u2014\u201cdysautonomic, autoimmune, gastrointestinal, mitochondrial, relentless, exhausting, painful\u201d\u2014dictates when and for how long she can work. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t stop me but it does require me to take a different shape both literally\u2014my body cannot sustain a full curling into the work\u2014and figuratively\u2014my body cannot withstand continued travels or stand through an entire artist\u2019s reception.\u201d<\/h4>\n

\u201cBut different does not mean lost,\u201d she says. \u201cMy work finds its place inside this new body. I have more to say than I did before and fewer energy molecules to say it with.\u201d<\/h4>\n

Her process remains deliberate. It begins with pencil. \u201cMy subconscious creates, solves, and re-creates better compositional problems.\u201d Then she builds intricate layers of black ink, calculating \u201chow much of the paper will shine through and how much will be hidden behind layers of ink or thread.\u201d<\/h4>\n

\u201cAs someone who is obsessed with line and mark-making, I admire Habben\u2019s ability to use illustrative line in tandem with a myriad of styles and media to push his work outside any pre-conceived boundaries,\u201d she says. \u201cObserving his experimentation inspires me to experiment with different ways of interacting with a piece, including cutting and embroidery.\u201d<\/h4>\n

Today, Lee keeps her exhibitions closer to home, regularly participating in the Utah Arts Festival and the Kimball Arts Festival, and jurying into group shows at the Springville Museum of Art and Salt Lake Community College.<\/h4>\n

Still, the invitation remains the same.<\/h4>\n

\u201cI still invite you to see and embrace that there is darkness\u2026 and also light.\u201d<\/h4>\n

Above all, she is here.<\/h4>\n
\"\"<\/a>

Desarae Lee, “Woven Snake”<\/p><\/div>\n

The Way of the Cross: A Series by David Habben opens at the BYU Museum of Art<\/a>, March 27, 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cAbove all, see that I am here.\u201d For Salt Lake City artist Desarae Lee, that line anchors everything. Working primarily in pen and ink, she creates intricate narrative drawings built from obsessive, meditative linework. \u201cThe work is small: look closer,\u201d she says. \u201cAccept what is unchangeable\u2014mistakes made with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1600,"featured_media":101775,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_piecal_is_event":false,"_piecal_start_date":"","_piecal_end_date":"","_piecal_is_allday":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,2238],"tags":[874,4443],"class_list":["post-101704","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-visual_arts","category-who-do-you-love","tag-david-habben","tag-desarae-lee"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/DLee_Magpie-1-scaled.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-07-16 06:14:23","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101704","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1600"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=101704"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101704\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":101784,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101704\/revisions\/101784"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/101775"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=101704"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=101704"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=101704"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}