The Lord of Art
Originally published in Paradiso Issue 10
Lee McConnell is an eclectic artist with a passion that has seen him work with legendary label, Mambo, design album covers for incredible bands such as Grinspoon and Dune Rats, and now become the Lord of Art at this year’s Splendour in the Grass. Paradiso magazine’s Aarna Hudson chats art, music and the cosmic landscapes from his dreams.
Lee, you’ve got a pretty impressive portfolio — Designer at Mambo, Creative Director for Grow your Own Festival, Album Art for Australian bands Dune Rats, Jack River and Grinspoon, and Artist in Residence for Splendour in the Grass. Is this an absolute dream come true? Share with us how your path as an artist evolved?
Yeah, it’s definitely pretty special to me, a lot of hard work and hours put in to be where I am and I’m grateful to be doing what I am doing and love every bit of it.
When I was a kid, I liked to draw characters from cartoons I watched and I was very obsessed with Batman so I drew him a lot. My dad kept the first drawing I ever did. It was a scribble that looked like a lawn mower. My parents and grandparents pushed me into doing art classes
at school and really supported that creative side of things. I continued to do art and drawing growing up, but in my teenage years I didn’t really go home and draw relentlessly. I think I was distracted and wanted to be hanging out with my mates all the time.
After school I studied design at Newcastle TAFE for a year or so and then went to Europe for a year travelling. I was creating a few posters for some mates’ bands and drawing again a little bit. When I got back in January 2011 a few big things happened in my life. I lost my old man to suicide and I think that was a big turning point for me to leave my hometown of Forster and create a good path for myself. I started saying yes to things that might have been out of my comfort zone. I was house painting with a mate of mine when I first moved down and, funnily enough, I was going to NIDA once a week doing a short course in acting and it was something I was super interested in.
During that time my little brother Cade sent me a text one day when I was at work house painting. He said that Mambo were looking for an intern. I thought to myself, my little bro (he was 16 at the time) has gone out of his way to send me this and was clearly looking out for me, so I felt like it was a sign to act on it. When I got home I gathered some design work I did at TAFE as well as some drawings and paintings I had done and sent them in. I got an email a few days later asking if I would like to come in for an interview. I caught the ferry over to Manly where they were based then and a few days after that I got another email saying I’d been chosen for an internship. I was so stoked at that time I remember feeling so ecstatic. I worked with them for three months for free and worked my butt off and showed a lot of interest. By the end of it they had offered me a job as an illustrator and design assistant. For me then it was a bit of a dream come true.
I worked there for six or so years all up. It definitely helped shape where I am today and I am grateful for the bosses there then for giving me a run. Although working for a company that produced clothing, a lot of everything you did at Mambo revolved around art. From the events they held to the exhibitions. It introduced me to a lot of artists in the Sydney art scene and opened the doors to exhibit in many group shows up and down the coast.
But there has to be a time to move on and I finished up as Art Director which was unreal and a bit of an achievement for me after starting there five years prior as an intern. I wanted a bit more creative freedom and I think freelancing was the calling I had. I had been doing it on the side, working with Dune Rats and co-founding Grow Your Own with Holly Rankin (Jack River) so there were a few things to keep me busy. More work started to come mostly in the music industry and now I’ve moved up here to Byron which has been great for me creatively.
You’ve recently teamed up with Feat. (Future Energy Artists) to create their logo. For those who don’t know, Feat. is a solar investment movement led by artists, financing solar farms and investing in renewables to offset the environmental cost of touring. (Check them out!) What an epic initiative. How did you become involved?
Yeah, it is a great idea and the way of the future for sure. Hopefully our idiot government can follow suit and move fully into renewables.
I became involved not long after Grow Your Own in 2017 when Cloud Control played the festival. I was shooting content videos with my mate Sam Page for the festival and Heidi from the band was featured in one at a sustainable buffalo cheese farm in Bungwahl near Forster. Holly, Heidi and I went for dinner and got chatting. Heidi had the idea and was starting to plan to get it moving. She asked if I wanted to come on board and help design the logo and branding. Good to see it launched now with a lot of bands involved already and many more to come.
Paradiso was lucky enough to feature Reg Mombassa in Issue Two, interviewed by our friend, and fellow Mambo alumni Paul McNeil. You’ve all combined music and art as your life’s work. Was that a planned career trajectory for you or did it happen organically?
Yes, both art legends.
I guess you could say it was something that I would have ideally loved to be doing when I started as a designer. No one wants to be doing shit work, doing page layouts or pamphlets for real estate agents or banks, so I guess with Mambo it was a very art based job that had a music background. I didn’t completely plan out a path to be doing it but there have been certain opportunities I have had that have led to the next thing so I guess it is a bit of both. I am super passionate about music and have a lot of friends who play in bands and continue to make more friends in that industry so that is probably the answer.
Lee, I’m in love with your surreal collages for this year’s Splendour in the Grass. And Jack River’s album cover Sugar Mountain – that’s my dream landscape. Will you be transporting us into this otherworldly coastal crystal dimension come festival time at North Byron Parklands?
Yeah, I’m working a few pieces like those ones for my exhibition ‘Hypnagogic Tableau’ at Lone Goat Gallery opening 12 July as part of my artist residence with Splendour. The name comes from that transient place between consciousness and sleep where you can almost control your vivid dreams and steer yourself through surreal parallel landscapes that may or may not be real. I like to think they are and when I create them it opens up my imagination to think past that image I have framed and into the rest of the scene that may be hidden behind the edge of artwork.
There will be a few things around the site with artwork I’ve created for the festival and also a big mural in the tunnel when you arrive at North Byron Parklands. It’s the biggest thing I’ve ever painted and it’s been fun working on it with a few good mates!
Tell us about your experience as Artist in Residence for this year’s Splendour in the Grass. And how does it feel to see people interacting, and enjoying your art in a festival setting?
It has been great so far creating poster and event artwork for the biggest and most sought after festival in Australia these days. I am very honoured and thankful for the chance they have given me. It is a great feeling to see my work everywhere and have people sending lots of positive messages, which is really the reason you create art in the first place, not only to express yourself but to create things for people to look at and enjoy.
The artist in residency program they have set up is a such a great initiative for promoting artists and their work. I am super grateful and want to give Splendour in the Grass a big thank you and kiss and hug. Look forward to sharing with everyone who is going.
See Lee’s exhibition Hypnagogic Tableau at Lone Goat Gallery, 12 July to 6 August, Byron Bay.