Li Weiyi

By deconstructing everyday objects from the real world and reassembling seemingly irrelevant elements, Li Weiyi not only breaks free from the constraints of conventional forms but also challenges the boundaries of viewers' visual and cognitive experiences with her unique perspective. In the exhibition 'Three in One', she questions and reflects on the relationships between art, life, and self-awareness.

“In today’s world, misunderstanding, rather than complete understanding, may be what brings people from different cultures together to create new things.”

Li Weiyi

ABOUT THE EXHIBITION

In an era dominated by increasingly similar digital images and photo editing tools, how can one approach artistic creation? Perhaps you can find new inspiration from the latest exhibition by contemporary artist Li Weiyi.

'Three-in-One', explores the complex relationship between art and life, function and form, responding to the phenomena of the intermingling of images and text, and the intertwining of representation and ontology in modern society, in a unique way. For Li, art is not a refinement of life but rather contends with it, with both struggling against each other, vying space. In this new piece, Li reassembles an artwork originally dissected from life back into a daily object. As she puts it, it is about 'taking back what the museum has taken from daily life', which she sees as 'revenge on contemporary art'. However, this playful act of 'retaliation' can also be interpreted as a form of artistic practice in daily life. For the audience, the ambiguity of this work itself is a gift, prompting people to reconsider the relationship between art and life: where does art begin? What does it take away from life? And in what ways can it return to our lives？

Meanwhile, Li’s works span multiple media, fully utilizing 3D scanning, printing, and virtual modeling to integrate art and technology. In her 'Ikebana Study' series, she further develops the explorations initiated in her 'Section Cut Series'. Using 3D scanning to capture the three-dimensional data of human figures and create cross- sections, she transforms the internal spaces of these models into vessels. She then employs virtual engine technology to fill these spaces with exotic plants from a virtual world, offering endless possibilities for her creations. By describing and filling spaces that usually don’t exist in reality in a functional manner, she endows them with new meanings. While ruthlessly dissecting the human figure models, she turns the virtual plant models into symbolic objects of emotion.

While showcasing the complex and subtle relationship, the artist intervenes and reflects upon reality through her art. Through 'Sisters in Water', she expresses a profound reflection on gender biases present not only in the current art world but also in broader societal contexts. This work is not only a tribute and re-creation of the classic drowning girl imagery found in art history but also explores issues of female identity, gender roles, and gender bias in this new creation. By using 3D scans of familiar female artists, placing them into a virtual watery environment, Li further blurs the line between reality and virtuality. The placement of the female artists' bodies on a gray, undulating virtual surface, gently floating by, serves as both a symbol of bodily freedom and liberation, as well as a metaphor for the certain constraints placed on female identity within society.

The three sections of this exhibition represent different facets of the artist's creative practice, and they also sketch out aspects of her background, personality, and environment - converging to form a portrait of Li Weiyi.

ABOUT ARTIST

Weiyi Li was born in Changsha City, China, in 1987. She received a BA from the College of Architecture & Urban Planning, Tongji University (2009), an MFA from Yale College of Art (2012) and a doctorate from the Royal College of Art (2023). Much of her work has been influenced by her decades-long career as a designer and image-maker. She has reflected on the brutalities of the image industry, the efficiencies and delays of image-mediated communication and the question of how we, as creators, can continue to create in a world dominated by increasingly similar digital image tools and fabrications. As she creates art and receives feedback from audiences, she recognises that art may be the only means by which we can all be united as human beings, for it may be the only place in the world where the power of what is not affirmed and what is misunderstood is still acknowledged. In today’s world, misunderstanding, rather than complete understanding, may be what brings people from different cultures together to create new things.