Lillian Lee

Lillian Lee (she/her) is an illustrator, designer and cartoonist of Empty Bamboo Girl comics, which appears in the Sampan Newspaper.

In high school, she was rejected from the art advanced placement class. It was a crushing blow. Years later, after having graduated from UMass Amherst and working in publishing and tech, she applied and was accepted to the Massachusetts College of Art and Design.

Since then, she has worked in character design, editorial illustration and collaborated on a line of baby apparel and stationery.

Currently, she lives in Boston, MA, where she was born and raised, with her husband, toddler and cat. She is also a member of a lion dance team and is a Swiftie. 

Artist Statement

My work is a series of love letters to my Chinese American life.

I am constantly inspired by my family’s history and traditions. It informs my work and affects how I see the world.