Celia Lees Interview in Curatory Magazine
Curatory Magazine | April 29, 2026
Celia Lees is a Toronto-based abstract painter. She studied design, worked in fashion, and started painting full time during Covid. Her work is in collections across North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.
We talked about the jump from fashion to painting, how residencies changed her work, and her ongoing show Loosen Your Grip in Spain.
The artist in her Toronto Studio
Q: You studied design at Toronto Metropolitan and worked in fashion before painting. What made you make the jump?
A: I was working in fashion after school at Acne Studios in Stockholm and was let go during COVID. When I returned home, I found myself back in my small town of 3,000 people in Canada with no clear sense of when the pandemic would end, so I began painting. I had painted a bit here and there over the years and did a lot of fashion illustration, but abstract came very naturally during that time and felt like the right next step. I got a small studio on the waterfront and thought, why not try and see where it goes. I had no idea that getting that studio, sharing my work consistently, and being open would lead to a full career as an artist.
Where We Need to Be - Acrylic and oil stick, 2024
Q: What does a day in the studio look like?
A: A day in the studio has become more consistent recently. I head in late morning after coffee and food, and once I arrive I try not to sit. I change into painting clothes right away and start working while my energy is highest. As the day goes on and my energy dips, I normally do emails, shipping, and website stuff. I usually leave before dinner. Lately my studio days have been more compact, which I'm enjoying. I previously have had many long days in the studio, but for the past few months I've been keeping it brief and focused, and it's been working well for me.
You Wouldn't Even Believe Me if I Told You It Was Raining - Acrylic and oil stick, 2024
Q: Memory and human connection come up a lot in your work. Are you painting specific memories, or something more general?
A: I'm more interested in capturing the present moment and turning it into something that can live on as a memory through painting. I'm not very nostalgic; I find more meaning in being present, and in imagining what's ahead. So the work isn't about revisiting the past as much as it is about holding onto the immediacy of now.
Human connection sits at the center of what my practice is inspired by. Being present with people, noticing small details, the tone of a voice, the way someone expresses themselves, their signature scent, the love or the fights—all of it becomes material. So many people in my life have had pieces named after them and they will never know, haha. I'm fascinated by people and how they think; I often wish I could step inside someone else's mind, just to understand how they experience the world.
Q: You came from fashion. Does that eye for texture and colour still show up when you paint?
A: Yes, definitely. Working in fashion shaped how I understand colour, texture, and composition through a different lens. Being around people with strong creative opinions helped me begin forming my own. I became very aware of how things balance, how elements work together, and how colour and texture can completely shift a garment. Seeing those relationships in fashion gave me a set of tools that I now apply to painting. It really helped develop my sense of taste and curation.
Q: Your paintings end up in very different contexts, gallery walls but also arenas and hotels. Does the destination ever cross your mind while you're working?
A: Most of the time I have no idea where the work will end up, which I like. Especially when I'm working on larger pieces, I find myself imagining different kinds of spaces they could live in. When I'm creating commissions or project-based work, I do keep certain things in mind from conversations with clients, but overall the final location doesn't shape how I approach the piece. Normally, the first and last place I experience the piece myself is in my studio.
Too Close to See - Acrylic and oil stick, 2025
Q: You've done residencies in Sardinia and the South of France. What happens to your painting when you're away from home?
A: Residencies influence my work in a very direct way. My process is sensitive to changing variables, so being in a completely new environment, with different sounds, smells, light, and textures, inevitably shifts the work. It's always interesting to see how it changes my mark making and colour choices. In Sardinia, I kept making marks that looked like fish swimming in a stream. I'm not sure why, but my body kept repeating that motion. In the South of France, I was drawn to the colours around me. There was a window beside my workspace with this perfect blue, the same blue I kept seeing on shutters and doors, and that colour entered my work for the first time and has stayed since.
Q: Your solo at Bau-Xi was called When We Were Small. Where did that title come from?
A: It came from childhood naivety and the unfiltered joy of play. I think play gets lost in many parts of life, especially in work. Even as an artist, it can slip away when you're focused on producing. I wanted to bring it back intentionally, to play with colour and shape and let things feel light and free. I used circular forms for the first time, which felt very youthful and rudimentary to me.
Only Every Time I Close My Eyes - Acrylic and oil stick, 2025
Q: You have Loosen Your Grip coming up at Escat Gallery in Spain. Tell us about the concept behind that show.
A: Loosen Your Grip explores control. It's about realizing that trying to control everything isn't generosity, it's strain, and it starts to turn inward. The work moves through that tension, shifting between tight, controlled moments and looser ones where things are allowed to happen without force. It doesn't resolve that feeling; it stays with it and explores what happens when you loosen your grip.
Q: After Spain, what's ahead?
A: After Spain, I'll begin working on a new body of work for my solo show at Bau-Xi in Vancouver this September. I became represented by Bau-Xi last spring and have shown with them in Toronto, but this will be my first time working with the Vancouver team, which I'm excited about. I'll also be attending the Sydney Contemporary Art Fair with my gallery Saint Cloche in September. It will be my first time in Australia and I'm looking forward to experiencing the art scene there. I'm also loosely planning another show with an overseas gallery and hope to finalize those details soon!