Chen Li

Chen Li, born in 1996 in Zhejiang, China. She lives and works in Shanghai.

 

Chen Li’s Balsam Flower series stems from Chen Li's childhood memories of using balsam flower to dye her nails when she was growing up in the countryside. These experiences tied to traditional feminine aesthetics and standards drove the artist to reflect on the historical marginalization of female desire, ambitions and character. A class divide between the most disfavored rural environments and urban areas further compounds as an element which stifle women's voices.

 

Working with painting but also installation and sculpture, Chen Li transforms balsam flowers into mineral pigments to render intricate floral compositions on her paintings. The artist’s delicate use of color and brushwork tends to abstraction, where her flowers are revealed to the audience almost as apparitions, ephemeral glimpses of fading silhouettes against the background of the canvas.

 

Chen Li’s works have been exhibited at the 798 CUBE in Beijing, the M50 Art Zone in Shanghai, the Saatchi Gallery in London.