Where Memory Takes Form: Lee Wang-Ling Reimagines Leather as Fine Art
- WODACC
- May 20
- 5 min read
Updated: May 21
At the Future Art & Design Award UK 2026 Spring Season, Taiwanese artist Lee Wang-Ling was awarded both the Platinum Prize and Gold Prize in the Wall Art category for A Place Where Longing Resides and Guardians.
With over three decades of dedication to leather carving, Lee Wang-Ling has transformed a traditionally functional material into a medium of fine art. Rooted in realism and shaped by deep observation of nature and memory, her work bridges craftsmanship and artistic expression—bringing together the precision of Eastern painting and the dimensionality of sculpture.
At once intimate and resilient, her award-winning works reflect not only technical mastery, but also a personal journey of perseverance, identity, and renewal.
Intro
This work is composed with the disciplined realism of traditional fine brush painting and realized through carving and sculptural techniques. From a 3mm-thick cowhide, the artist transforms leather into a semi-relief, dimensional surface through layered processes of cutting, incising, striking, pressing, shaping, and lifting. Although leather carving in Taiwan has historically absorbed strong influences from American and Japanese traditions, this work reinterprets the craft through deeply rooted local memory. The aging ox, weathered adobe house, towering banana trees, and traditional water jar reconstruct fragments of rural childhood. The ox embodies the father’s steadfast endurance — grounded, resilient, and quietly devoted. The deteriorating house reflects the erosion of time and the gradual disappearance of a once-sheltering home. The father has passed, the house has crumbled, yet memory remains engraved within the heart. The work poses a quiet question: where does the old ox return, and where does the home filled with paternal love truly reside? With over three decades devoted to realist leather carving, the artist approaches her practice with humility. She believes that an artist is not a creator of truth, but a seeker of it. Each strike and incision does not attempt to surpass reality, but to learn from nature — allowing material, memory, and time to converge into form.
This work is composed with the meticulous realism of traditional fine brush painting and realized through carving and sculptural techniques. From a 3mm-thick cowhide, the artist transforms leather into a semi-relief, dimensional surface through layered processes of cutting, incising, striking, pressing, shaping, and lifting. Historically influenced by American and Japanese traditions, leather carving in Taiwan is here reinterpreted through a distinctly local cultural and ecological perspective. The central subject, the Mikado pheasant — one of Taiwan’s most iconic native pheasant species — stands among alpine flora, including Adenophora and shell ginger blossoms, while the parent bird protects its chicks. The scene embodies both the continuity of life in nature and a broader metaphor for safeguarding Taiwan’s ecological environment and cultural heritage. With over three decades devoted to realist leather carving, the artist approaches her practice with humility. She believes that an artist is not a creator of truth, but a seeker of it. Each strike and incision does not attempt to surpass reality, but to learn from nature — allowing material, time, and living memory to converge into form.
Interview
Q: Please give us a brief introduction about yourself and your creative background.
Wang-Ling:
I am Taiwanese. I have been engaged in leather carving for more than 30 years, starting from learning the American style, and later taking as my goal to reinterpret this craft technique that was introduced to Taiwan from abroad.In the United States, leather carving is positioned as a “style” type, characterized by exaggerated imagery and imaginative colors, such as the “Sheridan” style and the “California” style. My creations, however, are presented as realistic leather carving art, with clearly identifiable objects and proportions that correspond to reality.
Through more than 30 years of in-depth research in leather carving, I have published two books and one academic research paper. My continuous refinement in realistic leather carving art has given my work a distinct and unique personal style within Taiwan’s ecological realistic leather carving.
Q: What inspired you to pursue a career in creative / art / design?
Wang-Ling:
Vegetable-tanned leather has high ductility. I was not satisfied with its common use in leather carving for daily items, and instead hoped to elevate this technique into art.
I have continuously devoted myself to combining the delicate and realistic linework of Eastern gongbi painting with a dual perspective of sculpture, using the high ductility of leather to present semi-relief three-dimensional realistic art.
Q: Can you describe the creative process behind your work and what motivates you to create?
Wang-Ling:
My childhood background has become the nourishment of my creation. Plants, flowers and birds, and old objects are the threads for searching memory, and are also used to construct the artist’s intention to convey a positive and proactive attitude toward society.
Realistic subjects cannot be imagined out of nothing. I refer to nature, and even collect rural images that are about to disappear. In composition, I need to bring myself back to that time and space, that scene.
Childhood memories are both vague and profound; that emotional tension often inspires me again to reflect on why I am here.
Q: What was the most exciting or challenging part of creating the work you submitted to the competition?
Lee:
The submission of this work coincided with a dark period in my life when I was devastated by the betrayal and greed of human nature. My original realistic leather carving methodology—including my self-developed techniques of cutting, carving, striking, pushing, pressing, shaping, lifting, and inlaying, along with the theoretical framework I built—was misappropriated by a former student. She rebranded it under the term 'bionic' and claimed it as her own global innovation, even threatening me to abandon fighting for my rights. Facing such cruelty drove me to despair, making me lose hope in life, and I even wished for death. When I came across this competition, I told myself I needed something to focus on, so I submitted an artwork I had completed over the last two years. This submission holds profound meaning for me, as it helped reignite hope in my life.
Q: How would you describe your creative style and the key characteristics that define your work?
Wang-Ling:
My creative positioning is “realistic leather carving,” which differs from the “style”-oriented approach based on imagery and imaginative colors.
I take Taiwan’s natural ecology as my subject matter, and create semi-relief realistic leather carving works through delicate and realistic linework, colors identical to real objects, and accurate forms. The key lies in in-depth observation of natural ecology, presenting the true ecological harmony and dynamism of nature.
Q: What has been your experience participating in the competition? Were you satisfied with the process and results?
Wang-Ling:
I rarely participate in competitions. Because I experienced a low point in life, I decided to submit my work. All text materials were completed and submitted during the final week before the registration deadline.
I am grateful to the judges for their recognition, which has brought the realistic leather carving techniques I have built over more than 30 years onto the global stage, allowing more people to see them.
Because I was in a low mood, I submitted two works at once, which respectively received Platinum and Gold awards. It is especially gratifying to receive such awards in the field of crafts with hanging artworks.
Q: Where do you see the future of the art and design industry heading in the next 5–10 years?
Wang-Ling:
Art has moved from realism to abstraction. With the wave of AI, it is becoming difficult to distinguish what is real and what is not. Perhaps in the future, people will long more for art and design that are closer to real life and capable of generating deeper emotional connection.
Editor’s Note
In her works, Lee Wang-Ling transforms leather into a vessel of memory, resilience, and quiet strength.
Through meticulous craftsmanship and emotional depth, her practice reminds us that in an era of rapid change, authenticity—rooted in time, material, and lived experience—remains one of the most powerful forms of expression.
Follow the Artist
Instagram: Angel.li.leather
