The Radiant Metropolis
The world under the starry sky
Ruoheng Li is a post-90s emerging artist. Her creations offer us a unique perspective for examining contemporary art and global culture. Born in Beijing, she attended the Affiliated High School of the Academy of Arts & Design at Tsinghua University before embarking on a decade-long journey of studying abroad. She studied at the Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles, USA. This institution adheres to an educational philosophy that does not divide
majors by medium but centers on themes, embracing diversity. As a result, she received rigorous training in multi-media creation, including photography, painting, sculpture, installation, and more. Contemporary society is marked by diversity and contradictions, and a single medium can hardly convey such complexity. In the era of globalization, artists who work across multiple media are needed more than ever to respond to contemporary society
through multi-dimensional narrative approaches.
Ruoheng Li's decade of studying abroad extended beyond academics. She traveled extensively, exploring over twenty countries and regions. Her experiences far exceeded the typical artist's firsthand encounter with the world. More importantly, she regarded these journeys as a form of artistic action and reflection, deeply engaging with the lived experiences and interactions in those countries. For example, in 2014, at the age of just 21, she applied for a position as a war correspondent for National Geographic magazine, covering the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This gave her profound insights into global situations, international conflicts, and the complexities of human environments. These are lifelong sources of nourishment for an artist: seeing the world, interpreting it, and ultimately creating art from what she sees. She has developed a unique global perspective through deep interactions and exchanges between China and the world. This will bring fresh vitality and momentum to
contemporary Chinese art.
In 2023, she pursued a Master's degree in Contemporary Art Practice at the Royal College of Art in the United Kingdom. During her studies, she traveled extensively through many European countries with ancient histories, such as France and Italy. She personally experienced how contemporary culture and local histories fuse in various cities under the force of globalization. Cities and people are central themes. People build cities, and the philosophy of human life shapes cities. At the same time, cities, as tools, generate habitual behaviors in their use, which in turn mold the spiritual characteristics of local people. Urban architecture and cultural forms continue to influence future generations. The relationship between cities and people is one of mutual reshaping.
In her 2024 series the Radiant Metropolis , the urban landscapes, composed of white or colored pearls inlaid on black velvet, are the traces of Ruoheng Li's journeys— perceptions, reflections, transformations, and metaphors. Each of her pieces not only represents the appearance of a city but also delves deeper into its inner soul and unique cultural features. Through mysterious and profound compositional relationships, she employs the metaphor of
light to portray the world as she perceives it, engaging in a deep reflection on global cultural exchange and personal memory. Though they appear as two-dimensional works, they are actually a dialogue between the materiality of velvet fabric and pearls, forming a three-dimensional space. This form of creation precisely aligns with the contemporary shift of "painting beyond painting," reflecting trends in the diversification, personalization, and interdisciplinarity of painting. In today's global context, this generation of young artists, such as Ruoheng Li, embraces the universality of artistic language with an open attitude, paving the way for the long-term development of artists.
Ruoheng Li integrates her creative practice with her research projects, where one research topic yields a corresponding body of work. Her studies target the cultures of different regions—for instance, her research on the Amazon rainforest region gave rise to the Colombia Series — Amazon Legends, her fieldwork in Israel produced the Israel Series — Israel-Palestine Separation Wall, and her reflections on memories of growing up resulted in the Xibianmen Series — Memory Fragments (letters, mailboxes), among others. These artistic explorations tracing the marks and evolutions of civilizations also address the grand contemporary themes of cultural diversity and contemporaneity. They are cross-cultural, interdisciplinary, and multi-field issues, as well as cutting-edge topics in contemporary art. Having traveled across the Americas, Africa, Europe, Asia, and beyond, Ruoheng Li has gradually developed a comparative global cultural perspective in her artistic themes and cultural aspirations, highlighting the enduring truth that culture is fluid and the world is one of exchange. Consequently, her works carry meanings that transcend the visual. This is one of the key aspects of contemporary art: the significance of art extends beyond its visuality. With a spirit rich in humanity, she questions, investigates, imagines, and presents the present moment.
These have all become choices for the young artist Ruoheng Li: gazing up at the starry sky and imagining the world.
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