Yichen Li
Sculpture MA
Royal College of Art
Graduates: 2023
Specialisms: Sculpture / Contemporary Craft / Installation/Sculpture
My location: London, United Kingdom
Yichen Li
First Name: Yichen
Last Name: Li
University / College: Royal College of Art
Course / Program: Sculpture MA
Graduates: 2023
Specialisms: Sculpture / Contemporary Craft / Installation/Sculpture
My Location: London, United Kingdom
Website: Click To See Website
About
Yichen Li (b.1996, Shanghai, China) is a sculpture artist who is currently based in London. She completed her postgraduate studies at the Royal College of Art in 2023. Yichen’s work is grounded in traditional Chinese aesthetics, focusing on identity issues in a cross-cultural context, hidden spaces, shelter, belonging, home, and the relationship between architecture and sculpture. Because of her traumatic experience, she currently pay a lot of attention to the material that concealed and became shelter, and her creation always concentrates on substances that provide her with a sense of security. Screens are one of her main focuses, which have the function of concealment and can separate spaces. The screen acts as a partial divider, creating a nuanced relationship between revealing and concealing. She perceives it as a reflection of my own circumstances, symbolizing both her search for refuge and the need for communication.Besides, she has gathered aged carved wooden panels, which have hundred years of history, from the remnants of demolished ancient Chinese architecture. She meticulously restores, grinds, polishes, and colors them before combining them with contemporary wood carving techniques to form new spatial and architectural forms. She intends to challenge the aesthetic paradigm of traditional Chinese aesthetics by critically reconstructing and developing the old forms, aiming to create a new and undefined effect full of possibilities, waiting to be recognized and interpreted.
Wandering in the Garden, Waking from a Dream
This is an installation featuring four intricately carved wooden screens that rotate. Yichen Li has gathered aged carved wooden panels, which have hundred years of history, from the remnants of demolished ancient Chinese architecture. She meticulously restores, grinds, polishes, and colors them before combining them with contemporary wood carving techniques to form new spatial and architectural forms. She intends to challenge the aesthetic paradigm of traditional Chinese aesthetics by critically reconstructing and developing the old forms, aiming to create a new and undefined effect full of possibilities, waiting to be recognized and interpreted. This artwork is a reflection of the artist's experience as a mobile new generation of the Chinese diaspora and a student migration amidst the process of deglobalization. The conflicts arising from multiculturalism have prompted her to deeply contemplate her identity and individual existence. As a result, she has explored themes such as shelter, a sense of belonging, and home. She perceives this work as a reflection of her circumstances, symbolizing both her search for refuge and the need for communication.On the one hand, the screen hides her from mainstream society, but on the other hand, it provides her with a small home, a refuge where she can hide herself behind a screen. But the screen is a more fluid one, it is not completely isolated like a door. Because the screen does not really separate the two spaces.The screen acts as a partial divider, creating a nuanced relationship between revealing and concealing. This symbolism represents the complex dynamic between the migration and British society. She aspires for this installation to evoke a fragile and poetic dream, embodying a fluid gesture that yearns for potential communication.
Competitions
