Maia Ruth Lee’s STRESS Glyph, a welcome to 2020
“Horoscopes have become a ‘code for feelings’ in our everyday lives, which I think is really interesting. I think about my steel glyphs that way as well,” says artist and educator Maia Ruth Lee. “I mentioned talismans, and that is what I mean by it: using these glyphs to ward off certain negative aspects of your life.” Welded from discarded fragments of metal gates and fences, Lee’s glyphs evoke forms akin to ancient typography. Along with her extensive lexicon of steel glyphs, Lee self-publishes glyph charts, which look like handouts from New York’s Chinatown or the streets of Kathmandu. Most recently Lee showed her glyphs at the Whitney Biennial 2019 in the piece LABYRINTH.