Lee sees art as his compass in life, a major influence of his thought process. Since childhood, he used drawing to aid in thinking. During high school, under the mentorship of the late Ms. Barbara Hughes who also graduated from RISD, Lee used his visualization ability to master the subjects studied in science and the skills needed in art. In college, he earned a Bachelor of Fine Art and another for Architecture. Lee continues to be rewarded with comprehension and finds direction by making visual works. The acts of drawing and constructing allow him to handle abstract ideas and phenomena that he would vaguely grasp when exposed to them solely through written and spoken language, but when he can sensually perceive them, his understanding is magnified. Perhaps it is because Lee started to learn his primary language, English, at the age of eight that he never developed sufficient trust in the written/spoken word and grew to rely on that which is visual and tangible instead. The process of thinking through making became his way of investigating rationally as well as intuitively.