Lee Andersen, visually creative fashion designer and founder of ManneqART, poses at the Columbia DoodleHATCH location.
Karl Merton Ferron | Baltimore Sun | TNS
BALTIMORE — She’s a free spirit in the fashion world, an art clothing designer who grew up Down Under — and then turned her trade upside down. Lee Andersen would as soon tout dresses made of wood, metal or paper as those stitched of fabric. Does that garb come off the rack? Try off the wall.
“I’ve always challenged the status quo and gone against the grain,” said Andersen, of Columbia, winner of the 2023 Howie Award for Outstanding Artist by the Howard County Arts Council. “I don’t fit the normal parameters.”
Ten years ago, the New Zealand native founded ManneqART, a nonprofit bent on inspiring imaginative couturiers to create nontraditional sculpture on the human form. Think clothing made using everything from hubcaps to ping-pong balls to playing cards.
Her own innovative designs favor more wearable art. Steven Tyler, of Aerosmith, wore an Andersen duster on “American Idol.”
Here are three things to know about Andersen:
1. A cookie brought Andersen and her love together.
“While on a train [to Baltimore], I was looking for a place to sit when I saw this guy — and my knees went weak. His briefcase was on the next seat over, so I sat behind him. Then I went to the bar, got two chocolate chip cookies, came back and said, ‘Would you like one?’ He said, ‘Yes, would you like to sit down?’
“We chatted for two hours; it was like we’d known each other forever. A year later, Al [Scolnik] and I married at the Ellicott City courthouse. We’ve been together 34 years.”
2. Though 66, her college days are here and now.
“I’m studying at the Maryland Institute College of Art, to earn a Masters of Fine Arts. [Classmates] call me ‘grandma,’ but I like to learn something new every day. As a mixed-media artist, I want to do sculpture, ceramics and woodworking. I’ll take a metalworking class in September because I’d like to do welding.”
3. Cancer has not curtailed her dreams.
“I have [stage 4] colon cancer, which has spread to my lungs. But I’m on chemotherapy and have gone into remission before. Kids have drawn beautiful fake tattoos on my bald head.
“I tell people to get colonoscopies, which I did not. I thought I was invincible; I have such high energy that I never took my body seriously. I kept ignoring the pain because I was tough and thought I could handle it.
“I live every day as fully as I can. It’s healthy to have a reason to wake up in the morning.”
