ARTIST BIO

Harry Lee is a contemporary tea artist and ceramicist whose practice weaves the timeless rituals of the tea ceremony with the tactile beauty of organic clay. Founder of Tea J Club in Kyoto and the Harvard Club Tea Society in New York, Lee approaches tea as a living art form—part performance, part sculpture, part communion.

Originally trained as a landscape architect, Lee extends his spatial sensibilities into theatrical environments where tea, ceramics, and design converge. His works have been featured on international stages including Coachella, Palais Royal, and Nuit Blanche Kyoto, inviting audiences into immersive worlds of stillness and wonder.

At the historic Asahiyaki atelier in Uji, Kyoto, Lee handcrafts his signature ceramic series—OYSTER, INFERNO, and Neo-Artefacts—each piece embodying the dialogue between earth, fire, and the human gesture. His practice is both ancient and experimental, rooted in tradition yet always reaching toward the future.

EXHIBITIONS

néo-artéfacts

Palais-Royal- Galerie de Bazillac, 
Paris 2025

Oyster

香港文化中心 Hong Kong Cultural Center, Hong Kong 2025

Nuit Blanche Kyoto < Path of Asahiyaki> 

京都白夜祭 Sibasi, Kyoto 2024

Inferno Feast

Metropolitan Fukujusou, Kyoto 2024

Wonders of the Garden

with 市岡和憲 Ichioka Kazunori 2024
若王子倶楽部 左右 Sayuu Gallery Kyoto

Hokusai’s Sea 

朝日焼 Asahiyaki Shop & Gallery,
Kyoto 2022

PERFORMANCE

SAKURA ART WALK 

法然院 若王子倶楽部 左右 Honen-in Temple, Sayuu Gallery, Kyoto  2023, 2025

PATH OF ASAHIYAKI 

Nuit Blanche Kyoto, Kyoto 2024

AYU OKAKITA ‘s GROW GROW CONCERT 

KAGURANE TOKYO, SOCORE FACTORY OSAKA 2023, 2024

“KOYO” Tea Ceremony with August Henry 

Stage Design & Immersive Lighting Performance with August 
 02/02/2024 Bridge to Kyoto, KYOTO

CORAL ĀYATANA THE SIX SENSES SPHERES 2022

 Stage Design & Light Performance with butoh dancer FRAUKE
24/11/2022 UrbanGUILD KYOTO

Hokusai’s Sea《北斎の海》

Tea ceremony inspired by Edo Period artist Hokusai 
 Asahiyaki Shop & Gallery, KYOTO 2022

SCHLEMMER’S CIRCLE

 Bauhaus 100th Year Anniversary Tribute Performance
  for Oskar Schlemmer
 Harvard University Graduate School of Design, 
24/11/2018 CAMBRIDGE

LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE

MAHARI TAMASARI RETREAT

Lead Architect, Bali since 2021

Wakayama Buddhist Meditation Center

Architecture and Landscape Designer, Japan  2021-23

NEOM Tech & Platform Sector 

Design lead, Saudi Arabia 2020-22

Martha Schwartz and Partners 

Landscape Designer, New York 2019-20

Poetic Kinetics 

Environmental Artist, Los Angeles 2018-19

Shanghai Disney Land 

Design Consultant, Shanghai 2014-15

GREENSPACE 

Designer, Shanghai 2014-16

ART FESTIVALS

OVERVIEW EFFECTS with POETIC KINETICS

Puppeteering for Robotics Art Installation
Coachella Music and Arts Festival, Indio, USA 2019

DOT THE DOG

 Wooden Installation art
 Burning Man, USA 2018

EDUCATION

HARVARD UNIVERSITY 2019

Graduation from Master of Landscape Architecture

THE UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG 2014

Graduation from Bachelor of Arts in Landscape Studies
First Class of Honour

ASAHIYAKI since 2021

Study ceramics under 16th Generation Master Hosai Matsubayashi

URASENKE since 2023

Study Japanese Chado under Master Bruce Hamana Sosei

ZEN TEA CEREMONY since 2015

Zen Tea training under Zen teacher Ming An

SCHLEMMER’S CIRCLES TRIBUTE TO BAUHAUS 100th YEAR ANNIVERSARY PERFORMANCE

HARVARD UNIVERSITY GRADUATE SCHOOL OF DESIGN, UNITED STATES

Overview Effects with POETIC KINETICS

Coachella Music and Arts Festival, INDIO, UNITED STATES

“MUSHROOM Room ” IMMERSIVE HOTPOT GARDEN

CHONGQING, CHINA