CURIOUS THINGS
Wei Li
The Art Incubator Gallery . August 10 – September 22, 2017
Opening Reception: Thursday, August 10, from 7 – 10pm
Harcourt House Artist Run Centre, 3rd floor, 10215 – 112 St, Edmonton
Wei Li is an Edmonton-based visual artist, a recent graduate of the University of Alberta (BFA in Painting), and one of 15 finalists of the prestigious 2017 RBC Canadian Painting Competition. The Art Incubator Gallery at Harcourt House functions as one of the foremost forums in Edmonton for local contemporary art, this exhibition selection is yet another example of that function. Harcourt House selected Wei Li’s work for exhibition before she was nominated for the RBC Canadian Painting Competition.
In Curious Things, organic patterns, symbols, and gestures emerge from Li’s experiences, her subconscious, and her imagination. Her paintings are created layer by layer, with structures, rhythms, and energies, slowly combining to construct an intricate whole. Li’s impressive body of work also explores the delicate balance between abstraction and figuration. Says Li: “… the inspiration for my work for this exhibition has come from my personal experience, imagination, or memory. I always look for inner structure during the entire process of painting …. Line crosses line, shapes run into shapes …. As the process goes on, there is always an active dialogue between painting and myself. The rhythm will form, the energy will explode … those abstractive elements turn into figurative … the ambiguity creates room for interaction …. And the viewers complete the painting with their own experience and imagination …”