Wei Li: Inside Out

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Wei Li, "Long Way Home," 2017

acrylic and oil on canvas, 40" x 60”

Opening Reception: Sat, April 7, 2.30 - 5 pm at Art Gallery of St. Albert – Temporary Location  -  #100, 6D Perron Street, St. Albert, AB T8N 1E4

Emerging artist Wei Li’s intricate paintings present a mixture of complex lexicons. These large oil paintings are multi-layered, not just in medium, but also in meaning. 

In 2010, Li immigrated to Edmonton from south-central China and describes this experience as the fundamental inspiration in her art practice. Having been raised in China but educated as a contemporary artist in Canada, her dual cultural perspective has prompted her to address a number of creative concerns, the most persistent being her own hybrid identity – a blend between Eastern and Western perspective. 

In an intuitive process, images are layered and built from Li’s imagination and subconscious. Structures form like overcrowded landscapes, taking the shape of internal human organ-like systems. Colourful, tangled compositions weave across the canvas, interlaced with familiar shapes and patterns. Line crosses line, forms run into other forms, in a conceptual process that is an ongoing exploration of the complex life of the body – inside and out. The end result is a hybrid and often visually complicated painting. These dynamic works express Li’s subjective and emotional experience living in a socially and ethnically diverse modern culture, navigating the complexities and contradictions of society.

During the 2017-18 Gallery Barrier-free renovation please visit us at our temporary location at 6D Perron Street until September 2018.