LI Yuexuan’s artistic practice centres on self-portraiture of the eyes, investigating the richness and ambiguity of space. The painting process is one of accumulation, where fragmented observation, figurative memory, and intuitive traces of strokes are spontaneously layered. Painting serves as the incarnation of her being, alongside my aspiration to expand upon such existence.

 

She seeks to objectify the sensation of the gaze, distilling it into a tangible presence. She is in particular drawn to the point at which the act of looking, self-scrutiny and the state of being seen converge. The gaze is not merely observation; it is a sharp, unyielding declaration of existence. Thus, there is no longer the “observer” and the “observed”; instead, the gaze stands in a state of being in itself, inherently weighted with an existential force that dominates the shared space between the painting and the spectator. Each work—scaled to match her own height—functions as an incarnation of her presence, inviting the viewer into a direct, visceral confrontation. Intuitively seeking formal simplicity, she use square canvases to explore the paradox of infinite expansion within physical constraints.