Lindy Lee is an Australian artist of Chinese heritage whose work is deeply informed by Buddhist philosophy. This large-scale diptych depicts Hong-Kong born Dr Dick Quan (b. 1962), an influential Sydney and Canberra-based physician specialising in HIV and sexual health. Quan met Lee while he was at university in the 1980s and he has studied medicine at the University of New South Wales and has known and collected her work ever since. A highly respected art collector and patron, he has served on numerous arts advisory boards and has made a significant contribution to Australia’s cultural landscape.
This portrait of Quan is part of a group of photocopy works produced early in Lee’s career. To create the multi-panel composition, Lee arranged photocopied images of Quan’s face and an Alvar Aalto Savoy vase, an object Quan has collected for many years, in a grid. These were repeatedly overpainted with translucent layers of pigment, sometimes incorporating wax or ink. Through this process of repetition and erasure, the source imagery gradually dissolves into black rectangular fields that Lee describes as a ‘void’ – a concept closely connected to Buddhist teachings. In its materiality, colour palette and imagery, the portrait reflects the shared connection of artist and sitter to Chinese cultural traditions, particularly the symbolism of the Five Elements: wood, fire, earth, metal and water.
Gift of Dr Dick Quan 2026. Donated through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program
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