Xi Li 李曦 is an interdisciplinary artist. She was born in Harbin, China, and received her education and grew up in both China and New Zealand, based in Tāmaki Makaurau, New Zealand. Li earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Photo Media from Whitecliffe College of Arts & Design in 2019, where she was honored with the Whitecliffe Photo Media Prize. In 2021 she received Master of Fine Arts (with first class honours) at Elam School of Fine Arts at the University of Auckland. In the same year, 2021, Li was awarded the Iris Fisher Scholarship.
Li's creative practice encompasses multiple fields, including films, digital images, sculptures, 3D printings, animations, games, virtual reality, installations, performances, photography, and graphic diagrams. She is interested in exploring the complexities of subjective and collective experiences, as well as the aspects constituted by fantasies and desires. Li is committed to combining theoretical research with artistic practice to create expressions and challenges that bridge the two realms. She often works within the research frameworks like psychoanalysis, semiotics and postmodernism. Through capturing visual imagery from macroscopic thinking and subjective perception, she presents self-mythology or critical narratives on themes such as subjectivity, technology, the body, cultural identity, ideology, subcultures, pop culture, globalization, and more.
Li has exhibited her works in various locations across New Zealand and Australia. Her recent solo exhibitions include "The Transcendence Labyrinth of Idols" at Te Tuhi, Auckland, "The Generation of The Hyperreal" at Pah Homestead, Auckland, and "Spirit Ether" at The Physics Room, Christchurch, New Zealand.
solo Exhibitions
2023 Unveiled Realms, Scott Lawrie Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand
2022 Prosperity or Emptiness, Masons Screen, Wellington, New Zealand
2022 The Transcendence Labyrinth of Idols, Te Tuhi, Auckland, New Zealand
2022 The Generation of The Hyperreal, Pah Homestead, Auckland, New Zealand
2021 Spirit Ether by Xi Li 李曦, The Physics Room Contemporary Art Space, Christchurch, New Zealand
2021 Spirit Ether, Window Gallery, Online
Selected Group Exhibitions
2023 The Unreliable Landscapes, Unreliable landscapes online exhibition platform, Online
2022 In Touch, Asia New Zealand Foundation, Online
2022 Inhuman Transaction, George Fraser Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand
2022 Art in the City - Urban Walls, Te Waihorotiu Station (Aotea), Auckland, New Zealand
2022 Transcending Bodies, PhotoAccess Huw Davies Gallery, Griffith ACT, Australia
2021 Cruel Optimism: New Artists Show 2021, Artspace Aotearoa, Auckland, New Zealand
2020 Ratatouille by Fluid Borders, Audio Foundation, Auckland, New Zealand
2020 Free Of Charge, Meanwhile Gallery, Online
2019 Terminal, Sosâge Art Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand
2019 Eden Arts Awards, Webb’s, Auckland, New Zealand
2019 The Last Meninas, Pearce Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand
Awards and Nominations
2021
2021
2019
2019
Simon Devitt Prize for Photography 2021 finalist
Whitecliffe College Of Arts And Design-Photo Media Prize 2019
Eden Arts Trust Art Awards 2019 finalist
Books, Publications and References
2023
2023
2023
Unreliable Landscapes newspaper publication, Unreliable Landscapes Project
The Happy Kids Archive publication, The Happy Kids Archive
Cruel Optimism Zine, Artspace Aotearoa
Commissions
The Idol Reveal: Transcendence Portrait - Idol III, Te Tuhi
The Idol Reveal: Transcendence Portrait - Idol II, Te Tuhi
The Idol Reveal: Transcendence Portrait - Idol I , Te Tuhi
The Idol Reveal: Infatuation Illuminated Pillars Series, Te Tuhi
Being, Become, Asia New Zealand Foundation
Spirit Ether: Mist, Fluid Borders and The Arts House Trust
Spirit Ether: Isolated, Fluid Borders and The Arts House Trust
Brain Island Special Performance, Fluid Borders and The Arts House Trust
Ritual of Subject: Aggregate of desires, Artspace Aotearoa
Ritual of Subject: The Idol Worship of Cynic, Artspace Aotearoa
Ritual of Subject: The Flattering of Physical Changes, Artspace Aotearoa
Ritual of Subject: The anti-enjoyment mentality of abstinence, Artspace Aotearoa
Ritual of Subject: The grotesque of consumer symbols, Artspace Aotearoa
2022
2022
2022
2022
2022
2022
2022
2022
2022
2021
2021
2021
2021
2021
SELECTED PRESS
2023
2023
2022
2022
2022
2022
2022
2022
2022
2021
Exhibition explores culture and celebrity, Times Online
IN TOUCH - Being, Becoming (in conversation with Asia New Zealand Foundation), Asia New Zealand Foundation
Ritual of Feeling (reviewed by Misong Kim), Circuit Artist Moving Image Aotearoa New Zealand
Artist to Watch, METRO Magazine - Spring 2022 Issue 436
Photo-Stories: Virtual Self with artist Xi Li (in conversation with Gabrielle Hall-Lomax), PhotoAccess
Optimism has its precedents: situating the rise of NFTs by Nina Dyer, Aotearoa Digital Arts Network
Xi Li Cruel Optimism Interview (in conversation with Artspace Aotearoa), Artspace Aotearoa
Art, Not Science Episode 34 (in conversation with Abby Cunnane), The Physics Room Contemporary Art Space
CIRCUIT Cast Episode 95 (in conversation with Connor Fitzgerald and Moya Lawson), Circuit Artist Moving Image Aotearoa New Zealand
TEACHING
2023
2022
2021
Lecturer at Whitecliffe College of Arts And Design
Professional Teaching Fellows at Elam School of Fine Arts at the University of Auckland
Teaching Support at Elam School of Fine Arts at the University of Auckland