The Art of Flight: Li-lan Solo Exhibition

Li-lan: The Art of Flight

Exhibition Dates│05.27.2023–07.01.2023

Reception｜05.27.2023 (Sat.) 4:30 p.m.

Venue │ Tina Keng Gallery (2F, No. 15, Ln. 548, Ruiguang Rd., Neihu Dist., Taipei, Taiwan 114)

Tina Keng Gallery is pleased to present Li-lan: The Art of Flight, the artist’s latest solo exhibition in Taipei in nine years, on view from May 27 to July 1. The New York-based artist transforms her travels in Asia into transcultural musing imbued with a profound sense of innocence. Her painting evokes a kaleidoscopic landscape, where various figures, objects, and beings collaged or juxtaposed in a tranquil space of color float or fly. They merge in the viewer’s mind, echoing the viewer’s lived experience, while the imaginary and the fantastic coalesce into a journey through time and space, unfettered by cultural binaries.

A childhood immersed in art and diverse cultures has shaped Li-lan’s perspective. She has travelled a great deal between the United States and Mexico, Italy, France, Japan, China and Taiwan and many other countries. These cross-cultural experiences underpin her outlook on the world: the boundaries between countries or cultures are never clear-cut, but rather, a fluid state of multifarious identity. In the realm of her mind, her traverses across intangible boundaries are manifested in the microcosms delineated on canvas. The fleeting moments, whimsical fancies, and serene ponderings become interconnected in her painting. Born out of her keen observation is a palimpsest of delicate, multicolored brushwork, allowing the viewer to glimpse the mysterious dimension of life.

Upon reflecting her life and practice, Li-lan says:

My life is moving through paint, first in black and white and now, in vivid color. Images are reflections of my inner and outer being. They are coming and going through joy and tears, as a bird or dancer takes flight through the landscape in my mind.

Images enter and exit dreamlike places that evoke metaphors of thoughts and dreams. Colorful spaces frame backdrops for figures and animals that float or fly through the mysterious and the unknown. Views within color blocks, of wondrous creatures and dancers in the art of flight: they are thoughts and visions, both real and imagined. My art, my life from one piece to the next, is a journey through the passage of time.