ARTIST STATEMENT
Ashley Miah, known as Lee Lee La Cubana, is a contemporary pop-artist and cultural curator whose work explores the intersection of art, style, and self-worth. Drawing from Afro-Caribbean and Latinx heritage, New York City’s urban landscape, and the visual language of divine femininity, her pieces reimagine pop culture through a soulful, femme-centered lens. Through a blend of bold imagery, cultural iconography, and wearable formats, her practice turns everyday objects and rituals into modern-day altars. Each artwork invites viewers to recognize their presence, story, and personal style as sacred forms of expression. Centered on themes of identity, nostalgia, and empowerment, Lee Lee’s work bridges visual art and fashion to honor both the inner world and outer aesthetic of contemporary womanhood.
ARTIST BIOGRAPHY
Ashley Miah, known as Lee Lee La Cubana, is a contemporary pop-artist and cultural curator from the Lower East Side of New York City. Rooted in Afro-Caribbean and Latinx heritage, her work reimagines pop culture through a femme, urban lens, blending acrylic painting, wearable art, and storytelling to explore themes of identity, womanhood, nostalgia, and inner balance.
Lee Lee’s work merges bold visuals with cultural symbolism, transforming everyday and iconic references into powerful emblems of memory and meaning. Her art examines the beauty and contradictions of womanhood, the complexity of identity, and the quiet rituals of becoming. Each piece is part celebration, part reflection, offering a visual language for emotional honesty, self-worth, and resilience. Her collections often include limited-run wearable art drops that extend her storytelling into style, inviting others to wear their authenticity.
Alongside her visual work, Lee Lee is a writer and cultural voice, contributing a regular column titled Art and the City to UP Magazine, where she discusses the complexities in becoming for creatives in art, style, and community. As the co-founder of The Culture Candy, she has curated over 50 events spotlighting emerging creatives of color across NYC. A graduate of LaGuardia High School and holder of a B.F.A. from Hunter College, Lee Lee has been an artist at Atlantic Gallery in Chelsea, has received recognition as Crain's New York Business 20 in their 20's (2022), Forbes 30 Under 30 (2023), and Amazon and Adweek’s Most Influential Small Business Marketer in 2024.
Through her multidisciplinary work, Lee Lee invites viewers to reconnect with their worth, honor their complexity, and treat their story and their style as art.
THE CULTURE CANDY
The Culture Candy is a NYC based arts organization that celebrates urban New York City Culture, the arts, and urban & minority artists by providing upcoming artists with showcase opportunities. Founded by Ashley Miah and Zalika Zeni two female artists of color seeking opportunities in the New York City art world, The Culture Candy is dedicated to encouraging young minority creatives to pursue their artistic passions through their involvement in community programs, the founding of NYC Art Week and gallery pop-ups throughout NYC.