top of page
LeenaLee_PhotobyDylan Doehner2.JPG

Photo by PhotobyDylan Doehner

Leena Lee is an atmosphere artist, field recordist, researcher, and designer whose work explores corporeal attunement to our environment through affective listening.

Rooted in environmental poetics, her practice centers on creating immersive atmospheres that emerge from extended listening, slow field observation, and tonal studies, weaving together the stories of both human and more than human entities that inhabit shared spaces. Her interdisciplinary approach bridges the sciences—such as biology and anthropology—with the humanities, particularly philosophy of nature and aural studies, integrating theoretical research with fieldwork. She is currently pursuing postdoctoral research in Philosophy of Nature on gardens as forms of care at the National Autonomous University of México (UNAM), where she also holds a PhD in Art History; her doctoral research examined contemporary artistic practices working with natural phenomena as expressive media, approached through the concepts of atmosphere and embodied experience.

She hosts the radio shows Sin Superficie, La Piel no es el Límite (Radio Nopal, MX), and The Weight of Atmosphere (ROVR, UK), dedicated to active listening, featuring works of sound ecology, sound art, and experimental music. She is part of Bosque Vacío, with whom she released Aves de Nahá on the Los Angeles–based label Dinzu Artefacts, a work centered on the aural relationships between the Lacandon community of Nahá and the birds with whom they share the jungle. Their earlier composition Cantera Oriente, released on the London-based label Flaming Pines, pays homage to the lacustrine history of Mexico City and is part of the collection of the National Sound Archive of Mexico, where it is featured on its soundscape microsite.

Her works have been recognized as Best Field Recordings and New & Notable on Bandcamp, reviewed in The Wire, and selected in Freeness playlists on BBC Radio 3. She has recently participated in national and international sound art festivals, including Momentum 13 Biennale (NO), Lips#2 Hydra (FR), Niansa (SL), Tsonami XVII (CL), and MURMURO (MX). As part of collectives, she has received support from Ecos Sonoros and PAPIAM, both focused on sound ecology and affectivity projects; the latter developed in collaboration with ornithology, sound anthropology, and Maya studies.

Leena has taught in the Graduate Program in Art History and at the Faculty of Arts and Design at UNAM, as well as at the Universidad del Medio Ambiente and the Faculty of Design and Architecture at La Salle University. She is a founding member of Arte+Ciencia, an interdisciplinary collective at UNAM that has explored the intersections of art, science, and the humanities for over fifteen years. Her creative and research practice has taken her as an invited artist and academic across the Americas, Europe, and Asia. She has participated as an artist and producer in national and international exhibitions and contributed to books and publications on philosophy, design, and sound art, including Atmosphere of Sound: Sonic Art in Times of Climate Disruption (UCLA), Ideas Sónicas (CMMAS), and Aural (Tsonami Ediciones).

  • Bandcamp
  • Bandcamp
  • Bandcamp
  • SoundCloud
  • Vimeo Black Round
  • Instagram Black Round
  • Twitter Black Round

Copyright Leena Lee 2025

bottom of page