Stella Lie was born in Timișoara/Temesvár in 1959. During her career, artistic production has gone hand in hand with academic excellence, as her trajectory shows. She studied art at the Institutul de Arte Plastice ‘Nicolae Grigorescu’ between 1981 and 1985. Shortly after graduating, she became an assistant in the Faculty of Fine Art and Graphics at the Universitatea Națională de Arte București. In 2008, she obtained her doctorate in visual arts from that same institution, having worked as a lecturer in the Faculty of Fine Art for the duration of her PhD.
Very much focused on graphic illustration, Lie has balanced purely artistic work with more commercial endeavours, such as book illustrations. This equilibrium has led her to question the typologies that exist in artistic practice, namely the distinction between illustration and art, which she describes as follows: ‘I often wonder what the difference is between illustration and art, and have come to the conclusion that it is a question that is seldom asked. I think I know when I do one or the other, and appear to be able to recognise this distinction in the works of others… Not to mention that I can distinguish a commercial illustration, even a good one (i.e. where the illustrator’s creativity was limited by the brief) from a personal one which has no commercial purpose’.
Among her notable personal exhibitions, one can highlight: In der guten Stube, Landis Galerie, Moeriken, Switzerland (2011); Galeria 28, Timişoara/Temesvár, Romania (2006); Galeria Pro Arte, Lugoj/Lugos, Romania (2005); Foisor Gallery, Brâncovenești/Marosvécs palaces cultural centre, Mogoşoaia, Romania (2004); Galateea Gallery, Bucharest, Romania (2003); Galeria Căminul Artei, Bucharest, Romania (1996); and Galleria Pro Arte, Lugoj/Lugos, Romania (1987).
Lie was awarded the Uniunea Artiştilor Plastici din România prize for graphic arts in 2005.
She lives and works between Bucharest and Lugoj/Lugos.
