For Grace Lillian Lee, weaving is not just a technique or a craft. It is a memory—of land, ancestors, movement, and breath—braided into form. An indigenous Australian artist and designer of Torres Strait Islander heritage, Lee’s work sits at a rare intersection of contemporary fashion, sculptural art, and living cultural practice.
Take for instance, The Guardians, which debuted at the Paris Couture Fashion Week in July last year. The body of work merges traditional Torres Strait Islander weaving techniques with contemporary sculptural forms, honouring Lee’s heritage as a ‘Miriam Mer’ woman (custodians of culture). Every strand in the weave holds story, ancestry, and intention, turning thread into testimony.
Grace Lillian Lee’s statement on her body of work
“My works imagine ancestral narratives forward while remaining rooted in tradition. Every piece is handmade in an intimate atelier in Cairns, led by a small, close-knit team. The ambition lies not in scale, but in depth—in creating work that is meaningful while fostering community engagement, networking, and self-determination,” she says.
Lee’s woven works such as The Winds of Guardians, comprising four structural forms—North Winds, South Winds, East Winds, and West Winds—and Dream-weaver Mask, address wind as both material force and metaphor: an agent of movement, memory, and transmission.
The sculptures were constructed using cotton webbing, cotton twine, cane, mirror acrylic, and electrical rubber shrink tubing. The Winds of Guardians was displayed at the recently concluded India Art Fair in Delhi.
“These sculptures are not just adornments, but also armour. They embody the inner warrior and the strength carried within identity. It maps family through colour and form —my grandparents, parents, and my partner—all bound by journeys that ultimately lead home.
Our roots have been shaped by travel and the experiences that have taken us far and wide, connecting us with family members from all corners of the globe,” explains Lee, who has been crafting this sculpture for more than a decade now.
Looking at Lee’s artistic career
Globally recognised for her woven artwear and powerful body sculptures, Lee occupies a space where couture meets cultural continuity. Lee shows annually at Australian Fashion Week, has collaborated with Jean Paul Gaultier, and in 2025 became the first Indigenous Australian woman to present independently at Couture Fashion Week in Paris.
Yet the significance of that milestone, she insists, lies less in personal achievement and more in what it represents —visibility, responsibility, and the possibility of opening doors for others.
Paris, however, was emotionally complex. “To be the first was overwhelming,” Lee reflects. “But it also made me ask why I was the first. Indigenous Australians have practiced weaving and textile—making for over 60,000 years—collecting fibres, rolling yarn by hand, laying the foundations of textile culture itself.
Carrying that lineage into the epicentre of global fashion felt like both an honour and a weight,” she says. Yet Lee remains hopeful. “I don’t believe I’ll be the last. I hope this moment gives other First Nations creatives the confidence to claim space on the world stage.”