1996 Lee Lessem Signed Paper Sculpture Seated Woman Artist Authenticated

An extraordinary original 1996 figurative sculpture by artist Lee Lessem, this glamorous seated woman represents a fascinating and now-discontinued chapter of the artist’s career.

Signed and precisely dated “Feb ’96,” the sculpture depicts an impossibly elegant woman with dramatically elongated crossed legs, a tiny waist, sweeping posture, sculptural upswept hair, and an elaborate layered costume created from richly textured and patterned papers.

She feels almost like a couture fashion illustration brought to life in three dimensions.

Her exaggerated proportions are wonderfully intentional. Long graceful limbs extend dramatically from the compact seated figure, while the sharply defined waist, arched torso, sweeping neckline, and monumental coiffure create a silhouette filled with personality and attitude.

The face is deliberately simplified, directing attention instead toward gesture, fashion, form, and movement.

And although the finished sculpture appears wonderfully effortless, its construction was anything but.

Personally Authenticated by Lee Lessem

The sculpture carries exceptional firsthand provenance.

After photographs of the figure were sent directly to Lee Lessem, the artist personally confirmed its authorship in written correspondence:

“Yes she is one of my sculptures!”

Lessem further confirmed that although she remains a practicing artist, she no longer produces her paper sculptures.

She described the works as a “labour of love” and explained that they most often required months to create, painstakingly constructed from tiny pieces of recycled paper using her own homemade non-toxic glue.

That firsthand description makes the remarkable surface of this sculpture especially compelling.

Rather than being cast, molded, or commercially produced, the figure was gradually built by hand from innumerable small pieces of recycled paper, shaping the extraordinarily long limbs, torso, clothing, hair, and sculptural silhouette piece by piece.

At approximately 21 inches high, she has tremendous visual presence yet weighs only 1.80 pounds—an extraordinary contrast between monumental appearance and humble material.

A Discontinued Body of Work

Lee Lessem continues to practice professionally as an artist, primarily through painting, but has personally confirmed that she no longer creates these paper sculptures.

This figure therefore belongs to a discontinued area of Lessem’s artistic practice rather than a form currently available from the artist.

Its February 1996 date is particularly appealing, placing the sculpture firmly within Lessem’s 1990s period and providing an unusually precise record of when the work was created.

The sculpture is both signed by the artist and independently authenticated by the artist herself in writing nearly three decades later.

An Artist with Continuing Contemporary Recognition

Lessem’s work continues to reach a significant contemporary design audience.

Today, reproductions of her paintings are offered through major home-design retailers including Wayfair, AllModern, and Joss & Main, where her abstract compositions appear as framed art and multi-piece wall-art collections. AllModern currently carries numerous Lee Lessem designs and specifically identifies them as reproductions of work by the artist.

That continuing commercial presence creates an especially interesting distinction with this piece: while reproductions of Lessem’s paintings remain available to a broad audience, this sculpture is an original, signed, individually hand-built work from a sculptural medium the artist has discontinued.

It is not a print, reproduction, or licensed decorative object.

It is an original Lee Lessem sculpture created by the artist’s own hands in 1996.

Extraordinary Sculptural Presence

The figure rewards viewing from every angle.

From the front, the tremendously elongated crossed legs create an elegant sweeping diagonal, while the layered bodice and dramatic hair frame the diminutive torso.

From the side, her arched back, tiny waist, projecting knees, and cascading costume give the sculpture an almost animated quality.

Viewed from behind, the intricate handmade construction becomes especially apparent in the layered clothing, individually formed hair, waist, shoulders, and overlapping paper surface.

The palette combines ivory, cream, black, gray, taupe, metallic tones, and richly patterned paper, giving the costume the appearance of an eccentric couture ensemble fashioned from unexpected materials.

There is something unmistakably 1990s fashion-editorial about her elongated silhouette, yet the handmade recycled-paper construction gives the piece an appealingly tactile studio-art quality.

She is glamorous without being precious.

Sophisticated without being restrained.

Elegant, eccentric, theatrical, and completely unforgettable.

For Eclectic Whimsy, she is almost a manifesto in object form: art, fashion, craftsmanship, femininity, whimsy, theatricality, and provenance all combined in one extraordinary sculpture.

She would be spectacular displayed on a console, pedestal, cocktail cabinet, dressing table, substantial bookshelf, or within a collected interior where her elongated profile can be appreciated from multiple viewpoints.

Perfect for collected maximalist, Hollywood Regency, Postmodern, fashion-inspired, theatrical, contemporary eclectic, studio-art, and art-filled interiors.

Artist: Lee Lessem
Subject: Seated female figure
Date: February 1996
Period: 1990s
Medium: Hand-built recycled paper with homemade non-toxic adhesive and mixed-media decorative papers
Style: Figurative / Fashion-Inspired / Mixed Media / Studio Art / 1990s
Colors: Ivory, cream, black, gray, taupe, metallic tones, patterned paper
Dimensions: Approx. 21" H × 9" W × 18" D from seated position
Weight: Approx. 1.80 lbs
Signature: Signed by Lee Lessem and dated “Feb ’96”
Authentication: Personally confirmed as an original Lee Lessem sculpture by the artist in written correspondence with the present owners
Artist Correspondence: Lee Lessem confirmed that she no longer produces paper sculptures and explained that the works often took months to construct from tiny pieces of recycled paper and homemade non-toxic glue
Function: Original art sculpture / figurative sculpture / collectible studio art / decorative art object

Artist Authentication & Provenance

Written correspondence from Lee Lessem confirming the authorship of this sculpture has been retained by the present owners.

A copy of the correspondence may accompany the sculpture with private contact information redacted.

The correspondence provides unusually strong provenance for a vintage studio work by establishing both the artist’s authorship and her original construction method.

Condition

Very good vintage condition consistent with an entirely handmade and inherently delicate paper sculpture dating to 1996.

The figure retains her dramatic elongated silhouette, crossed legs, sculptural coiffure, layered costume, and wonderfully textured surface.

Because the sculpture was constructed by hand from numerous tiny pieces of recycled paper, natural joins, folds, layered edges, creases, textural variation, and irregularities are inherent to the artist’s working method and are part of the character of the piece rather than evidence of mass production.

Light age-related surface wear may be present along projecting areas, folds, edges, and contact points. No major structural damage is apparent from the photographs.

The artist’s signature and February 1996 date remain visible.

Please review all photographs carefully as they form an important part of the condition description.

A remarkable opportunity to acquire a signed, dated, and artist-authenticated original Lee Lessem sculpture from 1996—painstakingly created over months from humble recycled materials and representing a sculptural medium the artist has since discontinued.

Fashion illustration transformed into sculpture.

Glamorous, eccentric, labor-intensive, and gloriously theatrical.

Wonderfully Eclectic Whimsy.