I’m alone in an elevator of a popular office/apartment building in Downtown, Honolulu. As I watch the numbers flash—ascending from one floor to another—I think to myself, If art imitates the artist, then Aaron Lee must be hiding something. Aaron is the pleasantly placid and levelheaded type but his plush creations, called Cryptonauts, are so wild and exuberant. My train of thought is interrupted as the elevator stops at the 11th floor. I step out and make my way down the carpeted hall to Aaron’s front door. I can hear a bit of commotion inside so I pause for a second. Then I knock.

I’m catching the 35-year-old full-time graphic designer and part-time college lecturer amidst a move from an apartment with room for two, to one with room for three (Aaron’s wife Caroline is expecting). We dodge a few boxes while a seemingly jaded Aaron leads me to a makeshift desk supporting his tools of choice– a Macintosh laptop and a Singer sewing machine.

Aaron was born in the sleepy little town of Nueva Rosita, Mexico. “I’m not Mexican but I like to say I am sometimes,” jokes the virtuoso of Asian decent. At the age of three he and his family moved to San Antonio, Texas where he felt the effects of racism due to ethnic diversity– an unfortunate circumstance which he had to overcome. Upon turning 20, he transplanted himself to Hawai‘i where he now makes his home. “The transition was fairly smooth since I had some family here, namely my Grandmother and Grandfather,” remembers Aaron. “Other than my failure to understand the local vernacular (Pidgin English), I fit right in.”

Aaron proceeds to pick up a few furry pieces of fabric followed by a piece of canvas with what looks like a cross between a Mexican lucha libre mask and a Hawaiian tiki printed on it. “I got a Cryptonaut that I want to stitch,” states Aaron. He takes a seat behind his Singer and fiddles with a piece of thread. We start to talk about his plush creations and I notice his lackadaisical mood change to fervor with the drop of his needle. As we chat, it becomes obvious that each Cryptonaut is an incarnation of Aaron’s personal expression.


Why did you choose sewing as a medium?
I had wanted to get into fashion design so I took a sewing class to learn apparel design and construction. Around that same time I was asked if I wanted to be in an art show which was called “Cryptozoo.” I knew that a lot of the artists would submit 2-d pieces and since I suck at painting, according to my beautiful wife, I wanted to do something different. So, I decided to use my sewing skills to make crazy monsters so that my work would stand out. To my surprise, I had a great response to my work and was asked to be in a different art show the following month. Hence, the birth of myCryptonauts.

Your creations are playful and amusing...
Yeah, my pieces are meant to amuse but it also reminds me of my own childhood memories. A time when I didn’t have a care in the world other than collecting toys, rocks, and skating. I want people to look at my work and relive that excitement of getting a new toy, like we used to when we were kids. When I was real young, I used to love collecting Match Box cars and every time we went to the grocery store I’d check out the toy section and look for the baddest car and beg my mom for it.

I notice that your plushies predominantly have that recognizable boxy form. What made you decide to go with that shape?
Actually, my first stuffies were not boxy at all, they were rather traditional stuffed animal forms with a little twist I put on it. I noticed that these forms didn’t allow me to put as much personality into it as I wanted to. So I wanted to make a simple form that can be freestanding with a large enough area for facial features. That’s when I sketched out my first boxy Cryptonaut.



Is there a hidden meaning behind the masks?
Well, crypto means “hidden” therefore the whole idea behind myCryptonauts is for people to make their own interpretations about my plushies. I love people’s reactions to my pieces because it always starts with “It reminds me of...” To me, it represents a form of my own cultural identity and childhood pastime. For example, the Mexican wrestling masks remind me of my birthplace, plus they look dope. And since I’m Okinawan/Korean, I wanted to represent my Asian identity with the infamous slant eyes stitched onto almost all of my Cryptonauts.

I know you participate in a grip of art shows here in Hawai‘i as well as abroad. What’s it like to take your work overseas?
Presenting my work on the mainland has been awesome. For the shows I don’t even go to, the curators tell me that my pieces were widely talked about. Mainland exposure is awesome and quite ironically they are my best clientele. For the shows I’ve been to, the response to my work and my residency in Hawai‘i has been overwhelmingly positive and encouraging. Everybody I talked to wants to “make it out here” (Hawai‘i) after telling them how beautiful it is here. People are curious about the art scene in Hawai‘i and I tell them that it’s growing and that there’s a lot of raw talent here yet to be discovered.

So what’s next in the evolution of myCryptonauts?
Well, I love making stuff and being in art shows so there’s no stopping the evolution. The process and function of my work might change and evolve but the myCryptonauts spirit will be the same. Who knows what the future holds. I can only strive to continue to create amusing stitchery and be the best person that I can.